V 


.^^%i  Of  PRiWCSgJ^ 


•^fOtOGIC/U.  SE>ft:^ 


BV  3557 

.M7  M69  1885 

\ 

Moffat, 

John 

Smith, 

1835- 

1918. 

The  lives  of 

Robert 

&  Mary 

Mnf f 3t 

v/i 


From  a  Pfiotograph  by  Elliott  <&»  Fry. 


THE   LIVES   OF 


ROBERT  &  MARY  MOFFAT 


"BY   THEITl  S07^ 


JOHN    S. 'MOFFAT 


WITH  AN  INTRODUCTION  BY  WM.  M.  TAYLOR,  D.D. 


WITH    PORTRAITS    AND    MAPS 


/I5cto  gorfe 
A    C    ARMSTRONG    &    SON 

714    BROADWAY 

MDCCCLXXXV 


INTRODUCTION. 


THE  name  of  Robert  Moffat  deserves  a  high 
place  on  the  honor  roll  of  modern  mission- 
aries. It  is  not  so  well  known,  indeed,  as 
that  of  his  son-in-law,  David  Livingstone,  but  it 
may  well  be  held  in  reputation  as  that  of  the  pioneer 
without  whose  labors  those  of  Livingstone  and  others 
would  have  been  far  other  than  they  were.  As  the 
London  Times  said  in  a  remarkable  leader,  published 
on  the  day  after  his  funeral :  "  Moffat  has  labored, 

and  other  men  have  entered  into  his  labor 

It  is  his  honor  to  have  been  among  the  first  in  the 
field,  to  have  laid,  as  it  were,  the  stepping-stones  by 
which  his  successors  have  been  able  to  outstrip  him  ) 
to  have  borne  the  burden  and  heat  of  the  day  in 
early  missionary  work,  and  at  once  to  have  given  an 
example  of  devotion  to  his  noble  cause,  and  to  have 
furnished  proof  that  the  ground  was  not  barren,  and 
that  even  in  South  Africa  the  good  seed  might  be 
trusted  to  spring  up  and  to  bring  forth  abundant 
fruit." 

When  he  went  to  South  Africa  in  1817,  he  found 
tribes  of  idolaters  and  savages,  constantly  at  war 
with  each  other  and  with  the  white  men,  utterly 

(iii) 


iv  IN  TROD  UCTION. 

ignorant  and  degraded.  When  he  left  it  in  1870, 
churches  had  been  called  into  existence,- a  perma- 
nent body  of  native  pastors  had  been  reared  from 
among  the  Bechwanas,  and  the  whole  region  had 
become  largely  civilized  and  Christianized. 

How  this  result  was  accomplished,  through  what 
difficulties  he  wrestled,  by  what  motives  he  was  sus- 
tained, and  with  what  tireless  energy  he  labored,  is 
fully  set  forth  in  this  interesting  volume,  wherein, 
without  needlessly  obtruding  himself,  the  son  has 
very  nobly  and  lovingly  unfolded  to  us  the  daily  life 
of  his  parents  on  the  mission  field.  Of  his  parents, 
we  say,  for  the  missionary's  wife  was  a  second  mis- 
sionary, and  the  story  of  her  self-sacrifice  and  devo- 
tion, not  to  her  husband  only,  but  to  the  cause  of 
Christ,  is  as  noble  and  spirit-stirring  as  anything  of 
the  kind  which  we  have  ever  read.  Both  were  of 
such  stuff  as  heroes  are  made  of,  and  their  names 
are  worthy  of  a  place  in  the  peerage  of  faith,  beside 
those  which  the  author  of  the  Epistle  to  the  He- 
brews has  ennobled  by  his  praise. 

The  work  needs  no  commendation  at  our  hands ; 
but  we  heartily  introduce  it  to  our  American  friends 
as  a  worthy  companion  to  the  Lives  of  Jiidson  and 
others  whose  names  are  better  known  on  this  side 
of  the  /\tlantic,  and  as  furnishing  a  new  and  strik- 
ing illustration  of  what  a  Christian  missionary  can 
be  and  do. 

VVm.   M.  Taylor. 


NOV  IS  1885  ^ 

'^       * '^ 


PREFACE. 


I  HAVE  to  thank  many  for  willing  help  rendered 
in  the  making  of  this  book — so  many  that  I 
cannot  name  them  all  ;  and  if  I  pass  over  some 
who  are  not  mentioned,  or  of  whose  service  I  have 
seemed  not  to  avail  myself,  let  them  understand  that 
their  kindness  has  been  none  the  less  felt  or  valued. 

I  thank  the  Directors  of  the  London  Missionary 
Society  for  placing  their  records  at  my  disposal  ; 
and  their  Foreign  Secretary,  the  Rev.  R.  W. 
Thompson,  for  the  liberal  interpretation  which  he 
gave  to  the  instructions  of  the  Board  on  the  subject. 

Still  more  do  I  thank  those  old  friends  who,  with 
brotherly  and  sisterly  confidence,  committed  to  my 
care  the  family  correspondence  of  long  years,  a 
sacred  record  of  mingled  joy  and  sorrow  in  the  lives 
of  their  parents  and  mine. 

I  need  scarcely  say  how  I  value  the  communica- 
tions received  from  Messrs.  Yellowlees  and  Oswell, 
the  Reverend  Messrs.  Collum,  Guest,  Rogers,  and 
Robinson  ;  also  from   Dr.    Mackie  and    Mr.   F.   W. 


vi  PREFACE. 

Chesson.  It  was  not  till  most  of  these  pages  were 
in  print  that  I  had  the  opportunity  of  visiting  Ormis- 
ton,  my  father's  native  village,  on  the  occasion  of 
the  unveiling  of  a  monument  to  his  memory,  of 
which  an  illustration  will  be  found  in  this  work. 
The  monument  owes  its  existence  to  the  zeal  of  a 
few  friends  in  Edinburgh.  They  found  an  unwearied 
secretary  in  Mr.  Thomas  Fairgrieve,  to  whose  hearty 
exertions  much  is  due.  I  am  thankful  that  Mr. 
Stevenson  has  been  successful  in  producing  one  of 
the  best  portraits  of  my  father  that  I  know,  in  so 
permanent  a  form  as  that  of  the  bronze  medallion 
which  forms  the  chief  feature  of  the  memorial  at 
Ormiston. 

Round  that  quiet  nook  in  East  Lothian  cluster 
many  associations.  Close  by  is  the  Hall,  with  its 
great  yew-tree,  one  of  the  finest  in  Scotland,  so 
closely  bound  up  with  the  memory  of  John  Knox 
and  of  Wishart  ;  and  from  the  old  Hall — a  part  of 
which  still  stands — Wishart  was  taken  by  night,  to 
be  carried  away  to  his  martyrdom. 

At  the  entrance  of  the  grounds  stands  the  gar- 
dener's house,  a  substantial  stone  building,  in  which 
Robert  Moffat's  mother  spent  her  youth  a  hundred 
years  ago  ;  and  in  the  churchyard  stands  a  stone  to 
the  memory  of  her  parents,  William  Gardiner  and 
his  wife,  erected  by  the  Earl  of  Hopetoun  of  that 
date,  in  whose  service  they  had  lived  and  died.  A 
short  walk  from  Ormiston  is  the  village  of  Tranent, 
where  the  first  coal  mines  in  Scotland  were  worked  ; 
and  a  little  farther  on  is  the  field  of  Prestonpans, 


PREFACE.  vii 

perhaps  less  remembered  for  its  battle  than  for  the 
fact  that  the  pious  Colonel  Gardiner  fell  there  within 
sight  of  his  own  house. 

An  illustration  is  also  given  in  this  work  showing 
the  Kuruman  street,  with  Robert  Moffat's  house  in 
the  foreground — from  its  least  picturesque  side  un- 
fortunately, but  no  better  view  is  available.  The 
church  is  seen  beyond,  and  farther  still  is  the  other 
mission  house. 

Two  pairs  of  portraits  are  given,  the  earlier  of 
1816,  the  later  taken  in  the  last  years.  There  are 
also  two  maps  showing  the  relative  knowledge  of 
South  Africa  at  the  time  of  Robert  Moffat's  arrival 
and  final  departure  from  that  country. 

I  hope  this  book  will,  in  a  measure  at  least,  serve 
to  continue  the  strong  missionary  influence  exerted 
by  my  parents  during  their  presence  here  amongst 
us. 

JOHN  S.  MOFFAT. 

SS.  "  Spartan,"  off  Madeira, 
Afay  26,  18S5. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

EARLY  YEARS  IN  SCOTLAND. 

MDCCXCV. — MDCCCXIV. 

pa<;e 
The  home  at  Cfirronshore — Attendance  at  school — First  missionary  impres- 
sions— His  life  at  Donibristle — Saves  a  man  from  drowning- -Leaves  for 
a  situation  in  Cheshire — His  promise  to  his  mother — Voyage  to  Liverpool 
— Arrives  at  High  Leigh — His  situation  there i 

CHAPTER  H. 

RELIGIOUS  CONVICTIONS. 
MDCCCXV. — MDCCCXVI. 

Spiritual  struggles — He  suffers  for  conscience'  sake — His  father  urges  caution 
— A  memorable  walk  to  Warrington — Seeks  to  become  a  missionary — His 
first  call  on  Mr.  Roby — He  goes  to  Dukinfield  Nursery — Unfolds  his 
plans  to  his  parents — His  father's  adverse  comments — And  resignation 
to  the  inevitable        ..•...•••..12 

CHAPTER  HI. 

PREPARATIONS  AND  DEPARTURE  FOR  AFRICA. 

MDCCCXVI. 

Earnest  longings  for  the  work— He  resolves  to  go  unmarried — His  first  visit       '^ 
to  London — Set  apart  to  the  work  and  embarks 23 


X  CONTENTS, 

CHAPTER  IV 

yOURNEY  TO  NAMAQUALAND. 
MDCCCXVII, — MDCCCXVIII. 

PAGE 

Obstructive  action  of  Government — Stays  at  Stellenbosch — Departure  from 
Cape  Town— Episode  at  a  Boer  farm — Preaching  to  the  "  dogs  " — Arrival 
at  Afrikaner's  kraal  .••••••••••28 


CHAPTER  V. 

LIFE  IN  NAMAQUALAND. 

MDCCCXVIII. 

The  Chief  Afrikaner — Moffat's  hut  at  Vredeburg — His  work  among  Afri- 
kaner's people — Journey  eastward — Hardships  of  travelling — Multifarious 
occupation — Reasons  for  visiting  the  Cape — Moffat's  home  circle — First 
acquaintance  with  Bechwanas — Religious  activity  at  the  Cape — ^Afri- 
kaner's reconciliation — The  Namaqualand  Mission .        .        •        ,        •      3S 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE  WIFE  OF  ROBERT  MOFFAT. 

MDCCCXIX. 

Parentage  and  youth  of  Mary  Smith — With  the  church  at  Ashton — Parents 
consent  to  part  with  her — Letter  to  Moffat's  parents — Letter  of  consola- 
tion— Letter  to  Miss  Lees — A  converted  brother — Letter  to  Mrs.  Greaves 
— Prospect  of  parting — Her  departure  draws  near — Entertained  by  Dr. 
and  Mrs.  Bogue  — A  communion  Sunday  at  Gosport  —  Letter  to  Miss 
Smith's  parents.        ••••..••«■.       48 


CHAPTER  VII. 

ROBERT  MOFFAT  VISITS  THE  CAPE. 

MDCCCXIX. 

IDeputation  from  the  L.  M.  S.— Relations  of  Moffat  and  Dr.  Philip— Trials 

of  faith 62 


CONTENTS.  xi 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

ARRIVAL  OF  MARY  SMITH  AT  THE  CAPE. 

MDCCCXIX. 

PAGE 

Her  voyage  out— Joyful  meeting  in  Cape  Town — Marriage— Cheerful  counsels      66 

CHAPTER  IX. 

JOURNEY  TO  LATTAKOO. 

MDCCCXX. 

The  Orange  River— Travelling  experiences — The  great  Karroo— Wild  animals 
— Infant  village  of  Beaufort  West — Obstructive  policy  of  Government — 
Encouragements  by  the  way     .....••••7t 

CHAPTER  X. 

SO  JO  URN  A  T  GRIQ  UA  TO  WN. 

MDCCCXX. 

Campbell's  visits  to  various  tribes— Hopes  fulfilled — The  Kuruman  fountain— 
Tlie  neighbourhood  of  Kuruman — State  of  the  mission — Curiosity  of  the 
Natives — Intercourse  with  Afrikaner — The  Moffats  at  Griqua  Town — 
John  Campbell's  snuff-box 79 

CHAPTER  XL 

SOJOURN  AT  GRIQUA  TOWN. 

MDCCCXX. — MDCCCXXir. 

Mode  of  living — How  the  larder  is  replenished — Primitive  floor'Scrubbing — 
Anderson  among  the  Griquas — Reorganizing  the  mission — The  Gru|ua 
Church  needs  discipline— Mary  Moftats  severe  illness— Birth  of  adaughtcr 
^Moffat  settles  at  Kuruman — Description  of  the  country — Ungracious 
conduct — Internal  difliculties — The  people  reject  the  gospel — Trials  of 
faith — Ox-waggon  travelling — Death  of  Afrikaner — Children  rescued  89 


xii  CONTENTS, 

CHAPTER  XII. 

TI/E  MANTATEE  INVASION. 
MDCCCXXIII. — MDCCCXXIV. 

PAGE 

(Jloiids  from  the  eastward — Rise  of  the  Mafebele  power — Moffat  makes  a 
reconnaisance  —  He  seeks  the  aid  of  the  Griquas  —  First  sight  of  the 
Mantatees — Battle  with  the  Mantatees— Narrow  escape  of  Robert  Moffat 
—Results  of  the  engagement — The  missionaries  gain  influence — Suffer- 
ings of  missionaries— Famine  and  cannibalism  .        •        .        .        .     107 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

WARS  AND  RUMOURS  OF  WARS. 
MDCCCXXIV. 

Visit  to  Makaba— Another  invasion  repelled — Marauders  from  the  west — 
Mary  Moffat  in  a  lonely  situation — Continued  commotions — Mr.  Hamil- 
ton's house  is  burned — The  miseries  of  heathenism — Encouraging  con- 
ditions        119 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

FAMIL  Y  BEREA  VEMENTS, 

MDCCCXXV. 

The  Batlaping  desert  Kuruman — Death  of  Mary  Moffat's  mother — Moffat's 

brother  Alexander — Commencement  of  a  literature  .....    128 


CHAPTER  XV. 

PROGRESS  ON  THE  NEW  STATION. 
MDCCCXXVI. 

Rescue  of  a  child  buried  alive  —  The  charge  of  trading  in  ivory— Small 
stipends  of  missionaries — Aged  missionaries  and  widows — Hard  manual 
labour  unavoidable— Mr.  Wright  at  Griqua  Town— Moffat  starts  for  the 
desert— Rough  fare  and  discomfort— The  marauders  at  work  again— 
The  Blooms  menace  Kuruman— Jan  Karse  settles  on  the  station— Con- 
course of  tribes  at  the  station 133 


CONTENTS.  xiii 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

LAST  ATTACKS  OF  THE  MARAUDERS 

MDCCCXXVIII. 

P/>.OE 

Attempt  at  mediation — The  banditti  grow  poorer — Moffat  under  a  flag  of 

truce — A  terrible  pair  of  eyes — The  last  of  the  robbers     ....     146 

CHAPTER  XVH. 

DA  y LIGHT  A  T  LAST. 

MDCCCXXIX. 

Unshaken  faith — The  great  awakening — Hope  not  made  ashamed — A  bright 
spring-time — Answers  to  prayer — Mosilikatse  first  heard  of — His  messen- 
gers visit  Kuruman— Moffat  journeys  to  the  Matebele — A  land  of  deso- 
lation— State  reception  by  a  chief — Robert  Moffat's  message  to  him — 
Return  home    ••••..•.....     152 

CHAPTER  XVHI. 

VISIT  TO  THE  CAPE. 
MDCCCXXX. — MDCCCXXXII. 

Moffat  turns  printer — Death  of  Mr.  Roby — Children  put  to  school— Horse- 
back journey  to  Cape  Town — Birth  of  a  daugliter — Printing-press  set  up 
at  Kuruman — Mosilikatse  attacked  by  Griquas — French  mission  to  the 
Bahurutse — Evil  results  of  the  Griqua  raid — French  missionaries  have 
trouble — Establish  themselves  at  Motito  ..,«...     165 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

MARY  MOFFAT  TRAVELS  TO  THE  COLONY. 
MDCCCXXXIII. — MDCCCXXXIV. 

An  escort  of  natives — Arrangements  for  the  children — Fellow-labourers  in 
the  mission — Another  attack  on  Mosilikatse — Millen's  lonely  death-bed 
— Universal  regret 177 


xiv  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XX. 

A  SCIENTIFIC  EXPEDITION. 

MDCCCXXXV. 

PAGE 

Moffat  accompanies  it— Smoothing  difficulties — Counsels  of  peace — Theanti- 
suearing  covenant — Military  versics  missionary  tactics — Messengers  from 
Mosilikatse — Moffat's  confidence  in  the  natives — At  the  mercy  of  the 
cliief — Second  reception  by  Mosilikatse- — Peaceful  stay  of  the  expedition 
— Tries  to  gain  various  objects — Improved  disposition  of  Batlaping — 
Sources  of  consolation — Woodcutting  expedition 184 

CHAPTER  XXI. 

MOFFA  T  ITINERA  TES,  AND  HIS  WIFE  GOES  TO 
THE  COAST. 

MDCCCXXXVI. 

Moffat  parts  with  his  family  again — Preaching  by  dim  moonlight — Work  on 
an  empty  stomach — Caught  in  a  thunderstorm — News  from  the  wife — 
Zeal  for  the  gospel — Waiting  for  the  river — Sending  children  away  to 
school — Embarkation  under  difficulties — Mary  Moffat  in  Port  Elizabeth 
— They  meet  at  the  Orange  River — Stale  of  the  Mission  ....     199 

CHAPTER  XXn. 

DISTURBANCES  IN  THE  INTERIOR. 

MDCCCXXXVII. 

Labours,  mental  and  manual — The  Boers  and  Mosilikatse— Fatal  blow  to 
American  Mission — Americans  leave  for  Natal  —  Dark  forebodings — 
Matebele  reap  what  they  sowed — The  French  missionaries  at  Moiito — 
A  peep  into  the  home        .«•.......    212 


CHAPTER  XXni. 

VISIT  TO  ENGLAND. 
MDCCCXXXVIII. — MDCCCXLI. 

Birth  and  death  on  board  ship — An  unexpected  welcome— The  circle  of  old 
friends— Great  missionary  interest  excited — Moffat's  literary  labours — 


CONTENTS.  XV 

PAGE 

Introduction  to  the  Eisdells  —  Successful  anniversary  meetings — Mary 
Moffat  longs  to  return — Bechwana  Mission  reinforced — Moffat  writes  a 
bools — His  wife's  anxieties  about  liim — Letter  to  Mrs.  Jacob  Unwin — 
Gratitude  for  kindness — Consolation  for  a  dying  bed        *        .        .        .    221 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

THJS  M  OFF  ATS  RETURN  TO  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

MDCCCXLII.,  MDCCCXLIII. 

Valedictory  services  —  Last  farewells  —  The  voyage  out  —  Death  of  Mary 
Moffat's  Brother  —  The  Rev.  John  Brownlee  —  Narrow  escape  of  the 
baggage — Crossing  Orange  and  Vaal  Rivers — Enthusiastic  reception  at 
Kurunian  —  By  missionaries  and  people — Influx  of  visitors — Edwards 
and  Livingstone— Moffat's  daughter  goes  to  Mabotsa— A  night  with  the 
lion — The  adventure  ends  well  .•••.....    236 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

MARY  MOFFAT  VISITS  CHONWANE. 

MDCCCXLIV. — MDCCCXLVII. 

Labours  great  and  small — The  sunset  hour — Mary  Moffat  starts  for  Chon- 
wane — In  the  lion  country  —  An  interesting  country — Interest  in  the 
interior  missions — Death  of  Moffat's  father  —  Letter  of  condolence  to 
his  mother         ••••••.•....    251 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

MARY  MOFFAT  JOURNEYS  TO  THE  CAPE. 

MDCCCXLVII— MDCCCXLIX. 

Last  weeks  with  her  little  ones — Her  perplexities  about  them — Motives  for 
parting  with  children— Sacrifices  for  Christ's  sake — Progress  meanwhile 
at  the  station — An  aged  parent — Flooded  rivers  again — Difficulties  by 
the  way — A  timely  meeting — The  Boer  invasion — Effects  on  the  Bech- 
wana Mission — Origin  of  the  Transvaal  State — The  worst  fears  confirmed 
— Moffat's  son  Robert  on  the  Boers — Their  unmanageable  disposition — 
The  natives  in  a  dilemma — Explorations  of  Livingstone — Mr.  Fredoux 
turned  back — The  natives  perplexed 260 


xvi  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XXVII. 

DAR/C  CLOUDS  WITH  A  SILVER  LINING. 

MDCCCL. 

PAGE 

Translation  and  printing  go  on  —  Reasons  for  not  writing  oftener  —  Slow 
progress  of  the  people — The  Kat  River  Rebellion — Encouragement  in  the 
retrospect— The  Moffats  and  their  parents — The  case  for  the  Hottentots 
— Kuruman  in  its  beauty  —  Moffat's  labours  in  translation— Hopeless 
prospects— Reasons  for  not  taking  sick  leave— The  Boers  triumphant — 
Sechele's  confidence  in  Moffat .        .        .        • 280 

CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

MOFFATS  THIRD  JOURNEY  TO  MOSILIKATSE. 

MDCCCLIII. 

Death  of  Mary  Moffat's  father — Moffat's  failing  health — Mosilikatse's  move- 
ments— Moffat  sets  out  to  visit  him — Visiting  chiefs  by  the  way — Sechele's 
anomalous  position — Travellers  groping  their  way — Sabbath  in  the  wil- 
derness— Mosilikatse  aged  and  decrepit — Condition  of  the  Matebele — 
Moffat  and  Livingstone  —  A  journey  with  Mosilikatse  —  Return  to 
Kuruman 294 

CHAPTER  XXIX. 

MARY  MOFFAT  AGAIN  JOURNEYS  TO  THE  COAST. 
MDCCCLIV. — MDCCCLVI. 

Meets  her  daughter  from  England  —  Death  of  Robert  Moffat's  mother  — 
Letter  to  friends  at  Kendal — A  retrospect  of  mercies  —  Letter  to  Dr. 
Bruce — Interruptions  to  his  work — Many  sorts  of  visitors — Unfair  policy 
of  the  Government — The  chiefs  well  disposed  ......    308 


CHAPTER  XXX. 
FOURTH  JOURNEY  TO  MOSILIKATSE. 

MDCCCLVIL 

Moffat  looks  northward  again  —  Extensive  plans  for  new  missions  —  The 
Hanoverians  at  Sechele's — Moffat  smooths  their  way — They  are  estab- 


CONTENTS.  xvii 

PAGE 

lished  there — The  captive  Macheng — He  is  restored  to  his  people — The 
new  undertakings — Livingstone  at  the  Cape — A  laborious  journey  from 
the  Cape — Antagonism  to  the  new  missions — Work  in  an  interval  of 
delay         .•••.........    318 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 

THE  NEW  MISSIONS  TO  THE  NORTH. 
MDCCCLIX. 

Helmore's  party  sets  out — The  Makololo  Mission — Heavy  loads  in  a  sand 
desert — A  march  through  the  forest — The  evening  bivouac — The  approach 
to  Matebeleland — Waggons  drawn  by  warriors— The  chief  hesitates — 
A  season  of  suspense — Settlement  at  Inyati — Affections  weaned  from 
the  world — Misconceptions  of  natives 331 

CHAPTER  XXXn. 

ESTABLISHMENT  OF  THE  MA  TEBELE  MISSION. 
MDCCCLX. 

Fever  in  the  camp — Death  of  Marelol6 — MofTat  leaves  the  Matebele — The 
Matebele  Mission  an  enigma— Encouraging  considerations — Collapse  of 
the  Makololo  Mission — Interest  in  the  interior         .        •        •        .        .    344 

CHAPTER  XXXHI. 

FAMILY  BEREAVEMENTS. 
MDCCCLXII. — MDCCCLXVII. 

Care  for  those  in  the  interior — Death  of  Moffat's  son  Robert — Death  of  Mary 
Livingstone — Death  of  William  Ross — Moffat  attacked  by  a  lunatic — 
Deaths  of  relations — The  waifs  and  strays  of  society — Death  of  Jean 
Fr^doux — Death  of  Mrs.  Brown       •.•••••.    352 

.     CHAPTER  XXXIV. 

DEPARTURE   FOR   ENGLAND. 
MDCCCLXVIIL,  MDCCCLXIX. 

Strong  home-ties  to  Kuruman— Farewell  scene— They  are  welcomed  on  the 
road — Early  condition  of  South  Africa — Effecting  a  change— He  teaches 

,.  * 


xviii  CONTENTS. 


PAGE 


agriculture — Moffat's  scientific  observations — The  geology  of  Bechwana- 
land  —  Linguistic  achievements  —  Christianity  and  civilization  —  Chris- 
tianity must  take  the  lead ••••    362 

CHAPTER  XXXV. 

DEATH  OF  MARY  MOFFAT, 
MDCCCLXX.— MDCCCLXXII. 

Meetings  in  Port  Elizabeth— First  days  in  England — Stay  at  Brixton — Mary 
Moffat's  illness^She  finishes  her  course — Her  care  over  her  husband — 
Moffat  travels  for  the  Society— The  old  house  at  Dukinfield — The  insti- 
tute at  Kuruman  —  Interview  with  the  Queen — Visit  to  Mr.  Black  at. 
Melrose — Visit  to  Sir  Titus  Salt        .....•••    374 

CHAPTER  XXXVI. 

MOFFAT  REVISITS  CARRONSHORE, 

MDCCCLXXIII. 

Presentation  of  ;^SOoo — Mary  Moffat's  long-lost  brother — Letter  from  Mr. 
Yellowlees — An  old  schoolmate  at  Carronshore  —  A  collection  of  por- 
traits—  The  sceptical  tailor  —  The  home  at  Bantaskine — Death  of  a 
grandson  ..............    387 

CHAPTER  XXXVH; 

FAREWELL  TO  CHILDREN. 

MDCCCLXXIV. 

Welcomes  a  daughter  from  South  Africa—  Lecture  at  Westminster  Abbey — 
Address  from  ministers — Letter  to  Mrs.  Goulty,  of  Brighton — The  Jubilee 
Singers — Visit  to  Miiller's  Orphanage — Visit  to  Paris — Meeting  at  the 
house  of  Casalis — Visits  the  Kidstons  at  Portencross       ....    396 

CHAPTER  XXXVni. 

CLOSING  SCENES. 
MDCCCLXXVIIL — MDCCCLXXXIII. 

Visit  to  Jersey  and  Guernsey — Removal  to  Leigh  in  Kent — Delight  in  country 
life— Retrocession  of  the  Transvaal— Visit  to  South  Bantaskine — Repre- 
sentative meeting— Of  Scottish  friends  —  Meetings  at  Manchester — In- 
terview with  Ketshwayo— Visit  to  Lancashire  friends — Failing  strength 
—Last  meeting  with  the  Sturges  —  Letter  to  Mr.  Dickson —The  last 
Sunday — The  land  of  Beulah— Thoughts  about  Africa— The  end  draws 
near — The  kindness  of  friends— Farewells— The  pilgrimage  over     .        .    406 


CONTENTS.  xix 

CHAPTER  XXXIX. 

FUNERAL,  AND  NOTICES  OF  THE  PRESS. 


PAGE 


The  funeral — Address  by  the  Rev.  J.  C.  Harrison — Address  by  Rev.  J.  G. 
Rogers — Comment  of  The  Times — Eulogiuni  on  mission  work —A  mis- 
sionary first,  a  citizen  after — Such  men  much  needed— Moffat  at  home 
everywhere — Dr.  Mackie's  reminiscences — Moffat  at  the  Mansion  House    427 


CHAPTER  XL. 

REMINISCENCES  OF  FRIENDS. 

Mr.  Osvvell  on  Kuruman — Robert  Moffat  in  his  Kentish  home — Letter  from 
Rev.  Hugh  Collum — The  village  of  Leigh — Moffat's  personal  qualities — 
His  stedfast  faith — His  views  of  the  Liturgy — His  public  engagements  at 
Leigh — His  Nonconformity — Entertained  at  the  Mansion  House — His 
Death — Letter  from  Rev.  J.  G.  Rogers — At  Great  George  Street  Chapel 
— Letter  from  Mr.  Chesson — His  address  in  Westminster  Abbey— At 
the  Mansion  House— Archbishop  Tait's  speech— Rev.  R.  Robinson's 
letter — At  the  Mission  House — Refuses  to  take  arrears  of  salary — The 
end 438 

INDEX 461 


PORTRAITS. 

Robert  and  Mary  Moffat. — From  Miniatures  taken  at  the  age  of 
20,  prior  to  their  departure  to  S.  Africa.  Drawn  from  the  originals 
by  Rudolf  Blind,  and  reproduced  by  Lithography. 

Robert  and  Mary  Moffat.— Cabinet  Portraits  by  Elliott  and  Fry 
and  Brittain  (recently  taken)  in  Woodbury  type,  with  Autograph 
facsimiles. 

ILLUSTRATIONS. 

Ormiston,  the  birthplace  of  Robert  Mofifat.    Showing  the  Monument 

erected  to  his  memory. 
Kuruman,  Robert  Moffat's  station  in  Bechwanaland. 


MAPS. 

South  Africa  in  1820.    Showing  the  routes  taken  by  Robert  Moffat. 

Stanford. 
South  Africa  in  18S5.    Sfmiford. 


10'  longE.of  Gr.   J5 


V.rll    A  I   .talBtrontf   &   Son 


CHAPTER  I. 

EARLY  YEARS  IN  SCOTLAND. 
1795—1814- 

ROBERT  MOFFAT  was  born  on  the  twenty- 
first  of  December,  1795,  at  Ormiston,  in  East 
Lothian.  Of  his  father's  origin  and  family 
little  is  known,  but  his  mother,  Ann  Gardiner,  came 
of  ancestors  who  had  lived  for  several  generations 
at  Ormiston  in  a  lowly  walk  of  life,  their  only  dis- 
tinction having  been  a  steady  and  unobtrusive  piety. 
It  is  uncertain  what  was  the  occupation  of  the  elder 
Moffat  at  Ormiston  for  some  years  after  his  mar- 
riage, but  in  1797,  when  the  subject  of  this  memoir 
was  two  years  old,  his  father  received  an  appoint- 
ment in  the  custom-house  at  Portsoy,  near  Banff, 
and  removed  thither  with  his  wife  and  young  family. 
In  those  days  the  voyage  was  long  and  venturesome, 
not  without  serious  risks,  as  would  appear  from 
some  of  the  letters  written  at  this  time.  A  visit 
which  had  been  promised  by  some  of  the  family  is 
deferred  till  a  more  convenient  season  on  account  of 
a  fear  of  being  "  captured  by  the  French  ;  '^  and  that 
this  fear  was  not  altogether  groundless  appears,  from 

2 


2  THE  HOME  AT  CARRON SHORE. 

another  item  in  the  same  letters,  to  the  effect  that  a 
French  privateer  had  chased  an  armed  brig  into 
Leith  roads.  An  account  is  also  o-iven  of  the  raisingf 
of  volunteer  forces  to  repel  an  expected  invasion, 
towards  which  force  the  quiet  landward  parish  of 
Ormiston  furnished  its  quota  of  sixty-nine  men. 

The  Moffats  remained  only  a  few  years  at  Port- 
soy. In  1806  we  find  them  established  at  Carr.on- 
shore,  on  the  southern  side  of  the  Firth  of  Forth, 
and  a  short  distance  from  Falkirk.  The  cottage  in 
which  they  lived  still  stands,  a  small  and  unpre- 
tending abode,  surrounded  by  others  of  the  same 
class.  It  was  visited  and  recognized  by  Robert 
Moffat  when  in  his  old  age  he  re-visited  some  of  the 
scenes  of  his  youth.  The  family  which  found  a 
home  here  consisted  of  four  sons  and  two  daughters, 
besides  Robert  himself  These  have  all  passed 
away  ;  only  one  of  them  left  children,  and  of  these 
scarcely  any  remain. 

In  a  letter  written  nearly  fifty  years  later  to  one 
'of  his  sons,  Robert  Moffat  tells  the  story  of  this 
period  : 

"  When  I  think  of  the  advantages  you  have  possessed,  I 
am  reminded  by  way  of  contrast  of  my  infant  years.  Well 
■  do  I  remember,  as  if  it  were  but  yesterday,  being  sent  to 
William — or,  as  he  was  called,  Wully — Mitchell,  a  parish 
schoolmaster,  to  learn  to  read.  The  shorter  catechism  was 
my  first  book,  the  title-page  of  which  contained  the  A,  B,  C, 
&c.  That  acquired,  I  went  plump  into  the  first  question, 
■'  What  is  the  chief  end  of  man  > '  I  tugged  away  at  this  till 
J  got  to  the  Amen,  but  not  without  having  my  hands  some- 
times well  warmed  with  the  taa's,  for  Wully  was  stern  when 
he  sat  in  judgment.  This  was  my  first  step  at  school.  You 
•would  be  surprised  to  hear  how  little  I  knew.     I  might 


ATTENDANCE  AT  SCHOOL.  3 

have  received  a  better  education.  My  dear  father  and 
mother  were  not  to  blame,  but  I  wanted  to  be  a  man  before 
the  time.  I  Hved  among  shipping,  and  ran  off  to  sea  ;  and 
the  captain  becoming  exceedingly  attached  to  me,  con- 
strained my  parents  to  allow  me  to  go  many  voyages  with 
him  in  the  coasting  trade,  and  many  hairbreadth  escapes  I 
had.  I  got  disgusted  with  a  sailor's  life,  to  the  no  small 
joy  of  my  parents  ;  and  I  shall  always  feel  grateful  that  I 
was  afterwards,  about  the  age  of  eleven,  sent  with  my  elder 
brother  Alexander  to  Mr.  Paton's  school  at  Falkirk.  It 
was  properly  only  a  school  for  writing  and  book-keeping, 
and  those  who  chose  to  pay,  or  could  afford  to  pay,  received 
lessons  in  astronomy  and  geography  after  school  hours. 
My  brother  was  one  of  the  class  of  young  men,  who  were 
nearly  all  the  sons  of  the  better  sort  of  folks.  Having 
some  distance  to  walk  home  I  was  allowed  to  remain  in 
the  large  room.  I  felt  queer  to  know  what  the  master  was 
doing  within  the  circle,  and  used  to  look  very  attentively 
through  any  little  slit  of  an  opening  under  an  elbow,  while 
I  eagerly  listened  to  the  illustrations  given,  the  master  all 
the  while  never  suspecting  that  I  was  capable  of  under- 
standing the  wonders  of  the  planetary  system.  What  I 
could  not  understand  my  brother  explained  on  our  way 
home.  I  was  only  six  months  at  this  school,  the  last  I 
ever  attended." 

At  this  time  he  was  a  regular  attendant  on  the 
ministry  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Caldwell.  Judging  from 
later  allusions,  even  at  an  early  age  deep  and 
serious  impressions  must  have  been  made.  All  his 
life  through,  Mr,  Caldwell's  earnest  teaching  left 
recollections  never  to  be  effaced.  These  were  con- 
firmed by  a  mother's  influence.  Robert  was  blessed 
with  a  mother  of  a  type  not  uncommon  in  those 
days  in  Scotland.  In  the  opinion  of  more  than  one 
of  her  grandchildren  who  have  had  the  opportunity 
of   judging,    she   might   have  sat   to  George   Mac 


4         FIRST  MISSIONARY  IMPRESSIONS. 

Donald  for  his  portrait  of  Robert  Falconer's  grand- 
mother. She  united  a  sternness  of  religious  belief 
bordering  on  gloomy  vindictiveness  with  one  of  the 
tenderest  and  most  loving  hearts  that  ever  beat. 
Her  handsome  features  and  dark  eyes  usually  wore 
an  expression  of  melancholy,  but  when  a  smile  came 
it  lit  up  her  beautiful  face  in  a  way  that  could  not  be 
forgotten. 

N  or  was  her  sombre  theology  incompatible  with 
a  lively  interest  in  the  movements  which  were  even 
then  on  foot  for  the  preaching  of  the  gospel  to  the 
heathen,  and  tidings  of  which  reached  even  the  se- 
questered villages  of  Scotland.  On  the  long  winter 
evenings  the  lads  were  gathered  by  the  fireside,  and 
while  their  mother  taught  them — not  without  re- 
monstrance against  employment  which  they  thought 
more  fit  for  their  sisters — to  knit  and  to  sew,  she 
would  read  aloud,  in  such  missionary  publications 
as  were  then  to  be  had,  the  story  of  the  dauntless 
pioneers  of  the  gospel  ;  and  more  especially  of  the 
work  of  the  Moravians  in  Greenland  and  in  the 
East  Indies. 

About  1809  Robert  was  apprenticed  to  the  trade 
of  a  gardener,  under  a  certain  John  Robertson  of 
Parkhill,  Polmont.  This  John  is  described  as  having 
.  been  a  hard  man,  though  withal  a  just  one.  Often, 
even  in  the  bitter  cold  of  a  Scottish  winter,  the  lads 
were  required  to  be  on  foot  in  the  dense  darkness 
at  four  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  had  to  hammer 
their  knuckles  against  the  handles  of  their  spades  to 
try  and  bring  some  feeling  into  them.  They  had 
just  enough  to  eat,  but  not  a  whit  more  than  was 
absolutely  necessary. 


HIS  LIFE  AT  DONIBRISTLE.  5 

Notwithstaiidlnof  the  severe  rd(rime  under  which 
he  Hved,  Robert  seems  to  have  found  time  to  attend 
an  evening  class  occasionally,  and  to  make  an  at- 
tempt at  learning  Latin  and  mensuration  ;  and  it 
would  appear  that  in  his  intercourse  with  the  family 
of  a  neighbour — of  which  one  member,  a  Mrs.  Home, 
still  lives  near  Liverpool — he  took  his  first  lessons 
at  the  anvil,  and  also  learned  to  play  a  little  on 
the  violin.  He  had  a  craving,  which  clung  to  him 
through  life,  to  learn  something  of  whatever  he 
came  in  contact  with,  and  many  of  the  accomplish- 
ments of  which  he  thus  gained  a  smattering  proved 
of  unlooked-for  value  to  him  afterwards. 

In  181 1  his  father  was  transferred  from  Carron- 
shore  to  Inverkeithing,  in  Fifeshire;  and  at  the  end 
of  18 1 2  his  apprenticeship  at  Parkhill  expired,  and 
he  obtained  a  situation  at  Donibristle,  a  seat  of  the 
Earl  of  Moray  near  Aberdour.  For  a  twelvemonth 
he  had  the  opportunity  of  frequent  intercourse  with 
his  own  family  circle  only  a  few  miles  away — the  last 
as  it  proved,  for  after  this,  with  the  exception  of  a 
few  transient  visits  during  the  lapse  of  long  years, 
he  was  never  with  them  again. 

The  late  Dr.  W.  Lindsay-Alexander,  in  a  paper 
in  the  United  Presbyterian  Missionary  Record,  says  : 

"  While  at  Donibristle  he  lived  with  the  other  workmen 
in  the  bothy  there,  only  occasionally  visiting  his  parents  at 
Inverkeithing.  One  who  was  a  fellow-workman  with  him 
at  that  time,  and  who  still  survives,  reports  that  he  was 
wont  to  while  away  the  evening  hours  by  practising  the 
fiddle,  and  thereby  contributing  largely  to  the  entertain- 
ment of  his  companions,  who  delighted  in  his  performances. 
Wo.  was  fond  of  athletic  sports,  and  in  these  he  excelled. 


6  SAVES  A  MAN  FROM  DROWNING, 

When  about  sixteen  years  of  age  he  fell  from  a  boat  and 
narrowly  escaped  death  from  drowning,  being  insensible  for 
some  time  after  he  was  drawn  from  the  water.  This  did 
not,  however,  deter  him  from  his  favourite  pastime  of  bath- 
ing, and  he  soon  became  an  accomplished  swimmer.  Of 
his  powers  in  this  respect  he  on  one  occasion  made  noble 
use." 

Mr.  William  Dickson,  of  Edinburgh,  has  furnished 
the  following'  account  of  the  incident  referred  to  by 
Dr.  Alexander. 

"  iS//^  Iilarch,  18S5. — The  following  narrative  I  to-day 
received  from  the  lips  of  John  Roxburgh,  who  is  now  in 
his  eighty-fifth  year,  and  whom  I  found  occupying  a  com- 
fortable cottage  on  the  estate  of  Colinswell,  about  a  mile 
from  Burntisland,  on  the  high  road  to  Aberdour  : — 

"*In  the  summer  of  the  year  1814,  I  was  employed 
along  with  Robert  Moffat  in  the  gardens  at  Donibristle, 
under  the  head  gardener,  Mr.  Piper.  I  was  then  about 
fourteen,  and  Moffat  about  eighteen  years  of  age. 

"  '  One  morning  at  the  breakfast  hour,  between  nine  and 
ten  o'clock,  the  two  of  us,  and  some  others  of  the  workmen, 
were  bathing  in  the  Firth  of  Forth,  opposite  the  "  New 
Harbour  "  at  Donibristle.  One  of  them,  John  Thomson, 
could  swim  a  little,  but  wanted  to  learn  how  to  "  turn  "  in 
the  water.  Swimming  out  beyond  his  depth,  he  tried  to 
do  so,  but  sank.  The  others  thought  he  was  diving  ;  but, 
seeming  to  remain  too  long  down,  they  got  alarmed,  and 
feared  he  was  drowning.  He  again,  however,  came  to 
the  surface.  Meantime  Robert  Moffat,  who  was  a  strong 
swimmer,  was  out  in  deep  water  several  hundred  yards 
off,  when  the  others  shouted  and  signalled  to  him  to  come 
to  the  rescue.  Swiftly  he  came.  They  showed  him  where 
Thomson  had  disappeared,  when  Moffat,  plunging  down, 
caught  him  round  the  body,  swam  with  him  ashore,  and 
laid  him  on  the  bulwark.  When  brought  ashore,  Thomson 
was  unconscious.  The  others  tried  to  help  him,  the  sea- 
water  running  from  his  mouth  ;  but  they  had  quickly  to 


LEAVES  FOR  A  SITUATION  IN  CHESHIRE.  7 

g;et  on  their  clothes  and  go  back  to  work,  as  it  was  now 
near  ten  o'clock.  I  stayed  beside  him  till  he  was  able  to 
speak,  and  then  left  him. 

" '  Robert  Moffat  was  in  this  way  the  means  of  saving 
John  Thomson's  life.  If  he  had  not  come  at  once,  and 
been  but  two  minutes  later,  I  believe  all  would  have  been 
over.' 

"Roxburgh  told  me  that  at  this  time  Moffat  was  living 
with  seven  other  men  in  a  '  bothy  '  on  Donibristle  estate. 
He  himself  (then  but  a  mere  boy) lived  with  his  father,  who 
was  also  a  workman  on  Lord  Moray's  property.  Notwith- 
standing his  great  age,  Roxburgh  still  possesses  sound 
health  of  body,  and  remarkable  acuteness  of  memory  and 
intelligence.  He  has  for  fifty-two  years  been  an  elder 
in  the  United  Presbyterian  congregation  at  Burntisland." 

Robert  Moffat's  engagement  at  Donibristle  having 
expired,  he  obtained  employment  as  under-gardener 
to  Mr.  Leigh,  of  High  Leigh,  in  Cheshire,  and  bid 
farewell  to  Scotland. 

It  was  on  this  occasion  that  an  Incident  occurred 
which  has  happily  been  recorded  in  his  own  words, 
and  is  quoted  from  the  Bible  Society's  "  Gleanings 
for  the  Younor  "  ; 

"  I  was  scarcely  sixteen  when,  after  working  in  a  nur- 
sery garden  near  my  parents  for  about  a  twelvemonth,  I 
was  engaged  to  fill  a  responsible  situation  in  Cheshire. 
The  day  arrived  when  I  had  to  bid  farewell  to  my  father, 
mother,  brothers  and  sisters.  My  mother  proposed  to 
accompany  me  to  the  boat,  which  was  to  convey  me  across 
the  Firth  of  Forth.  My  heart,  though  glad  at  the  prospect 
of  removing  to  a  better  situation,  could  not  help  feeling 
some  emotion  natural  to  one  of  my  age.  When  we  came 
within  sight  of  the  spot  where  we  were  to  part,  perhaps 
never  again  to  meet  in  this  world,  she  said — 

" '  Now,  my  Robert,  let  us  stand  here  for  a  few  minutes, 


8  HIS  PROMISE  TO  HIS  MOTHER. 

for  i  wish  to  ask  one  favour  of  you  before  we  part,  and  I 
know  you  will  not  refuse  to  do  what  your  mother  asks.' 

"  '  What  is  it,  mother  ?'  I  inquired. 

"  '  Do  promise  me  first  that  you  will  do  what  I  am  now 
going  to  ask,  and  I  shall  tell  you.' 

"  '  No,  mother,  I  cannot  till  you  tell  me  what  your  wish 
is.' 

'" '  O  Robert,  can  you  think  for  a  moment  that  I  shall 
ask  you,  my  son,  to  do  anything  that  is  not  right  ?  Do  not 
I  love  you  ?  ' 

" '  Yes,  mother,  I  know  }'ou  do  ;  but  I  do  not  like  to 
make  promises  which  I  may  not  be  able  to  fulfil.' 

"  I  kept  my  eyes  fixed  on  the  ground.  I  was  silent,  try- 
ing to  resist  the  rising  emotion.  She  sighed  deeply.  1 
lifted  my  eyes  and  saw  the  big  tears  rolling  down  the 
cheeks  which  were  wont  to  press  mine.  J.  was  conquered, 
and  as  soon  as  I  could  recover  speech,  I  said  — 

"  '  O  mother !  ask  what  you  will  and  I  shall  do  it.' 

" '  I  only  ask  you  whether  you  will  read  a  chapter  in  the 
Bible  every  morning,  and  another  eveiy  evening  ?  ' 

"  I  interrupted  by  saying — 

"  '  Mother,  you  know  I  read  my  Bible.' 

" '  I  know  you  do,  but  you  do  not  read  it  regularly,  or  as 
a  duty  you  owe  to  God,  its  Author.'  And  she  added  : 
'  Now  I  shall  return  home  with  a  happy  heart,  inasmuch 
as  you  have  promised  to  read  the  Scriptures  daily.  O 
Robert,  my  son,  read  much  in  the  New  Testament.  Read 
much  in  the  Gospels — the  blessed  Gospels.  Then  you  can- 
not well  go  astx'ay.  If  you  pray,  the  Lord  Himself  will 
teach  you.' 

"  I  parted  from  my  beloved  mother,  now  long  gone  to 
that  mansion  about  which  she  loved  to  speak.  I  went  on 
my  way,  and  ere  long  found  myself  among  strangers.  My 
charge  was  an  important  one  for  a  youth,  and  though  pos- 
sessing a  muscular  frame  and  a  mind  full  of  energy,  it 
required  all  to  keep  pace  with  the  duty  devolved  upon  me. 
I  lived  at  a  considerable  distance  from  what  are  called  the 
means  of  grace,  and  the  Sabbaths  were  not  always  at  my 
command.     I  met  with  none  who  appeared  to  make  reli- 


VOYAGE  TO  LIVERPOOL.  g 

gion  their  chief  concern.  I  mingled,  when  opportunities 
offered,  with  the  gay  and  godless  in  wdiat  were  considered 
innocent  amusements,  where  I  soon  became  a  favourite  ; 
but  I  never  forgot  my  promise  to  my  mother." 

The  follov/ing  gives  a  picture  of  what  travelling 
was  for  the  humbler  classes  seventy  years  ago  : 

"High  Leigh,  Dt:c.  5,  1813. 

"  Dear  Father  and  Mother, — I  make  no  doubt  but 
you  will  be  greatly  surprised  at  my  not  writing  you  sooner, 
but  I  hope  the  reception  of  this  will  satisfy  you.  I  shall 
begin  with  giving  you  an  account  of  our  passage.  After 
parting  with  you  on  the  5th  (of  November),  I  got  to  Polmont 
about  four  o'clock.      I  slept  with  Robert  Bailie  that  night." 

He  seems  to  have  joined  a  ship  the  following  day 
at  Carron,  which  was  to  go  by  way  of  the  canal  to 
the  Clyde  ;  and  after  many  delays  reached  Greenock 
on  the  1 8th. 

"We  left  Greenock  next  morning,  very  calm.  It  was 
about  midnight  when  we  got  as  far  as  the  Cumbrae  Isles, 
blowing  a  strong  breeze  right  in  our  teeth.  We  were  obliged 
to  bear  away  undei  a  heavy  sea  and  dismal  dark  to  Rothsay 
Bay,  in  the  Island  of  Bute ;  but  the  wind  favouring  us, 
we  put  about  and  stood  towards  the  Cumbrae  Lighthouse, 
but  under  a  dreadful  sea  we  were  obliged  to  bear  away  a 
second  time  to  Rothsay  Bay,  where  we  got  in  about  one 
o'clock  Saturday  morning  with  several  sloops  and  a  man- 
of-war.  The  rain  descended  in  torrents,  the  whole  night 
till  about  eight  o'clock.  One  unhappy  circumstance  took 
place.  Two  men  of  the  man-of-war,  the  Cygnet,  had  got 
overboard,  and  attempting  to  swim  on  shore,  one  of  them 
found  himself  going ;  he  immediately  cried  out,  which 
alarmed  the  ship.  A  boat  was  immediately  hoisted  out, 
but  before  they  could  get  nigh  him  he  was  no  more  ;  but 
they  laid  hold  of  the  other  one  who  was  attempting  to 
swim  to  shore,  but  the  body  of  the  other  was  not  found  so 


10  ARRIVES  AT  HIGH  LEIGH. 

far  as  I  know.  He  was  nine  years  on  board.  The  above 
enraged  the  Captain  (Russell)  ;  the  boat  was  sent  out  early 
the  next  morning,  the  20th,  and  pressed  John  Bow.  I 
happened  to  be  in  bed,  and  keepit  there  as  long  as  they  were 
upon  deck.  There  was  no  other  pressed  in  the  bay.  The 
vessel  was  stationed  at  Lough  Swilly  in  Ireland.  Every 
man  was  sorry  for  Jock.  But  to  make  a  long  story  short, 
we  left  there  next  morning,  and  arrived  in  Liverpool  Dock 
on  Friday  morning  the  26th.  Mr.  Walker  asked  me  if  I 
would  attend  on  deck  in  Bow's  stead,  which  I  did  all  the 
voyage ;  indeed  Thomas  Barker  was  mate.  I  got  my 
victuals  along  with  Mr.  Walker,  and  he  charged  me  ^i  5s., 
which  was  nigh  two  shillings  a  day.  He  said  that  he 
would  take  nothing  for  my  trunk  or  passage.  He  was 
kind  enough  to  mc,  indeed.  I  got  the  fiddle,  and  I  kept 
ourselves  merry  during  the  long  voyage,  but  it  was  against 
my  will. 

"  I  attended  church  at  Rothsay,  and  heard  a  young  man, 
an  anti-Burgher.  His  text  was  in  Matthew — Jesus  coming 
to  John  to  be  baptized. 

"  Every  person  was  for  me  taking  the  coach  on  Sunday 
morning,  but  I  took  my  own  way  of  it,  and  set  off  on 
Saturday  morning  between  nine  and  ten,  and  arrived  at 
High  Leigh  about  five  o'clock  at  night.  I  think  my  travel 
cost  me  a  sixpence  for  a  pint  of  ale  besides  five  or  six 
shillings  for  a  coach.  The  distance  is  about  twenty-six 
miles." 

At  High  Leigh  the  Scotch  lad  found  himself  in  a 
genial  atmosphere.  The  head  gardener,  a  Mr.  Bear- 
park,  took  to  him,  and  soon  got  to  leave  a  great 
deal  in  his  hands.  This  tended  to  make  his  duties 
heavier,  and  to  lay  more  responsibility  upon  him. 
The  gardens  vi^ere  maintained  on  a  scale  and  in  a 
style  to  which  he  had  as  yet  seen  nothing  to  com- 
pare, and  he  w^as  at  work  almost  day  and  night, 
weekdays  and  Sundays  ;  but  as  he  took  a  strong 


HIS  SITUATION  THERE.  n 

delight  in  his  calling,  this  was  no  hardship.  Many- 
men  were  employed,  and  these  seem  to  have  been 
for  the  most  part  careless,  and  given  to  amuse- 
ments for  which  Robert  Moffat  had  no  inclination. 
He  lived  in  a  lodge  in  a  somewhat  secluded  situa- 
tion in  the  grounds,  and  what  time  he  had  was  given 
to  quiet  study  of  such  books  as  he  could  obtain. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Leigh  were  very  considerate,  and 
gave  a  good  deal  of  attention  to  the  interests  of 
their  numerous  servants.  The  young  gardener 
attracted  the  kindly  notice  of  Mrs.  Leigh,  who  lent 
him  books  and  encouraged  him  to  studious  pursuits. 


CHAPTER   II. 

RELIGIOUS   CONVICTIONS. 
1815— 1816. 

N^  OT  long  after  his  arrival  at  High  Leigh  he 
came  in  contact  wiih  what  to  him  was  a  new 
development  in  religion.  The  Wesleyan 
Methodists  had  commenced  a  good  work  in  that 
neighbourhood,  and  by  the  influence  of  a  pious 
Methodist  and  his  wife  Robert  was  led  to  attend 
some  of  their  meetings.  The  passionate  appeals  of 
the  faithful  evangelists  found  a  ready  response. 
His  condition  at  this  time  will  be  best  described  by 
himself. 

"  I  had,  like  most  Scotch  youths  in  those  days,  the  Bible 
in  two  small  volumes.  These  I  read  (remembering  my 
mother's  last  words),  chiefly  in  the  New  Testament,  but  it 
was  only  as  a  pleasing  duty  I  owed  to  her.  I  thus  became 
lamiliar  with  the  Gospels,  notwithstanding  my  inattention 
to  what  I  read.  At  length  I  became  uneasy,  and  then  un- 
happy. The  question  would  sometimes,  even  when  my 
hands  were  at  work,  dart  across  my  mind.  What  think  ye 
of  Christ  ?  which  I  dared  not  to  answer.  A  hard  struggle 
followed.  I  could  ha\'e  wished  to  have  ceased  reading,  but 
the   very    thought   would   raise  the  image  of  my   mother 


-<Wi 


Rudolf  Bli'til.d'l 


SPIRITUAL  STRUGGLES.  13 

before  me,  I  tried  hard  to  stifle  conviction,  but  I  could 
not  help  reading  much  in  the  Epistles,  and  especially  in  the 
Epistle  to  the  Romans.  This  I  did  with  an  earnestness  I 
tried  in  vain  to  subdue.  I  felt  wretched,  but  still  I  did  not 
pray,  till  one  night  I  arose  in  a  state  of  horror  from  a 
terrific  dream.  I  fell  on  my  knees,  and  felt  as  if  my  sins, 
like  a  great  mountain,  were  tumbling  down  upon  me,  and 
that  there  was  but  a  step  between  me  and  the  place  of  woe. 
Then  followed  the  struggle  between  hope  and  despair.  I 
tried  to  reform — not  by  avoiding  grosslyimmoral  conduct,for 
I  had  never  been  guilty  of  that,  but  by  forsaking  foolish  and 
worldly  company,  vain  thoughts  and  wicked  imaginations. 

"  For  many  weeks  I  was  miserable.  I  wished  to  feel 
that  I  was  converted,  but  I  could  not  believe  I  was.  I 
thought  I  had  the  faith  required,  and  that  I  had  repented 
or  turned  to  the  Lord,  and  could  adopt  the  words,  '  To 
whom  shall  I  go  but  to  Thee,  O  Jesus  ; '  but  still  my  soul 
was  like  a  ship  in  a  tempest.  At  last  I  made  a  resolve  to 
become  as  wicked  as  I  could  make  myself,  and  then  if  con- 
verted I  should  be  so  sensible  of  the  change  that  all  doubts 
would  vanish.  I  looked  over  this  awful  precipice  down 
which  I  was  about  to  leap,  and  trembled  at  the  thought 
that  I  might  perish  in  my  sins.  I  turned  anon  to  my  Bible, 
and  grasped  it,  feeling  something  like  a  hope  that  I  should 
not  sink  with  it  in  my  hands.  I  knew  of  no  one  to  whom 
I  could  unbosom  the  agony  that  burned  within.  I  tried  to 
pray  fervently,  but  thought  there  was  a  black  cloud  between 
me  and  the  throne  of  God.  I  tried  to  hear  Jesus  saying  to 
my  soul,  '  Only  believe ; '  but  the  passages  from  which 
I  sought  comfort  only  seemed  to  deepen  my  wounds. 

"  Living  alone  in  a  lodge  in  an  extensive  garden,  my 
little  leisure  was  my  own.  One  evening,  while  poring  over 
the  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  I  could  not  help  wondering 
over  a  number  of  passages  which  I  had  read  many  times 
before.  They  appeared  altogether  different.  I  exclaimed 
with  a  heart  nearly  broken,  '  Can  it  be  possible  that  I  have 
never  understood  what  I  have  been  reading  ? '  turning 
from  one  passage  to  another  :  each  sending  a  renovation 
of  light  into  my  darkened  soul.      The  Book  of  God,  the 


14  HE  SUFFERS  FOR  CONSCIENCE'  SAKE. 

precious,  undying  Bible,  seemed  to  be  laid  open,  and  I  saw 
at  once  what  God  had  done  for  the  sinner,  and  what  was 
required  of  the  sinner  to  obtain  the  Divine  favour  and  the 
assurance  of  eternal  life.  I  felt  that,  being  justified  by- 
faith,  I  had  peace  with  God  through  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
and  that  He  was  made  unto  me  wisdom  and  righteousness 
and  sanctification  and  redemption. 

"  Oh  to  grace  how  great  a  debtor 
Daily  I'm  constrained  to  be." 

With  all  the  energy  of  which  he  was  capable, 
Robert  Moffat  threw  himself  into  the  society  and 
work  of  his  new  friends,  whose  ministrations  had 
quickened  into  life  the  seed  sown  in  earlier  days. 
Not  but  what  he  had  to  meet  crosses.  He  lost  the 
goodwill  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Leigh,  who  were  grieved 
that  a  young  man  in  whom  they  took  more  than 
ordinary  interest  should  have  become  a  Methodist, 
and  should  have  taken  upon  himself  a  name  which 
in  those  days  was  to  many  a  term  of  the  severest 
reproach. 

His  letters  home  at  this  time  are  full  of  the 
intense  feeling  shown  in  the  foregoing  quotations. 
His  father,  with  true  Scottish  caution,  replies  in 
guarded  language.      He  says  : 

"  We  are  always  happy  to  hear  of  good  news,  especially 
while  they  are  of  the  nature  you  mention,  and  the  Scripture 
assures  us  that  good  news  from  a  far  country  are  as  cold 
water  to  a  thirsty  soul  ;  and  we  are  very  happy  to  hear 
that  you  seem  to  have  got  a  sight  of  the  evil  nature  of  sin, 
and  the  evil  that  it  often  bringeth  on  the  unthinking  and 
heedless  part  of  mankind.  Nevertheless  I  would  exhort 
you  not  to  be  highminded,  but  to  fear  ;  for  I  read  of  one 
who  was  brought  up  into  the  third  heavens,  and  saw  things 
which  were  not  lawful  for  him  to  utter ;  nevertheless  there 
was  given  him  a  thorn  in  the  flesh,  the  messenger  of  Satan 


HIS  FATHER  URGES  CAUTION.  15 

to  buffet  him,  lest  he  should  be  exalted  above  measure  ; 
and  our  Saviour  himself  no  sooner  received  the  sign  of 
baptism  than  He  was  led  by  the  Spirit  into  the  wilderness, 
and  was  tempted  of  the  devil  forty  days.  And  tempted  to 
what  ?  Even  to  distrust  the  common  providence  of  God. 
And  the  Apostle  Peter,  although  he  made  more  pretensions 
of  love  to  the  Saviour  than  any  of  the  disciples,  yet  how 
soon  was  he  tempted  of  the  adversary  of  souls  to  deny  his 
great  Lord  and  Master. 

"  I  have  said,  '  Be  not  highminded,  but  fear.'  I  would 
also  say,  *  Let  him  that  standeth  take  heed  lest  he  fall,'  for 
the  history  of  all  ages  confirms  to  us  that  one  no  sooner 
begins  to  set  his  face  heavenward  than  he  begins  to  be 
persecuted  with  enemies  both  within  and  without ;  and 
it  often  becomes  no  easy  matter  to  bear  the  mocks  and 
even  threats  of  some  who  set  themselves  up  to  oppose 
all  that  is  good. 

"  You  seem  to  be  much  attached  to  the  Methodists.  I 
verily  believe  they  are  a  set  of  men  who  have  done  much 
good.  But  at  the  same  time,  I  do  not  altogether  go  in 
with  some  of  their  tenets ;  and  as  there  are  different  sects 
of  these  preachers,  some  of  which  are  said  not  to  be  very 
sound  in  the  faith,  it  would  take  one  to  examine  well  for 
themselves,  and  to  follow  them  no  further  than  they  follow 
the  Word  of  God." 

To  this  the  son  replies,  stoutly  defending  his 
friends.  There  was  evidently  a  severe  struggle  in 
his  mind  between  the  Calvinistic  faith  of  his  fathers 
in  which  he  had  been  brought  up,  and  the  teachings 
to  which  he  was  now  listening.  Meanwhile  another 
phase  of  life  was  dawning  upon  him,  which  we  can 
read  in  his  own  words  : 

"  I  had  undergone  a  great  change  of  heart  ;  and  this  I 
believe  was  produced  by  the  Spirit  of  God  through  reading 
the  Bible  and  the  Bible  only,  for  my  small  stock  of  books 
consisted  chiefly  of  works  on  gardening  and  botany.  Be- 
yond -visitors  to  see  the  gardens,  and    the    men  in  daily 


i6    A  MEMORABLE  WALK  TO  WARRINGTON, 

employ  who  returned  to  their  homes  after  the  labours  of 
the  day,  I  saw  no  one.  I  occupied  my  leisure  in  studying 
the  Scriptures,  and  when  opportunities  offered  I  did  not 
fail  to  try  and  convince  others  of  the  necessity  of  repent- 
ance toward  God  and  faith  toward  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
I  thought  I  had  only  to  tell  them  what  Christ  had  done  for 
them  and  what  was  required  of  them  to  be  saved.  I 
wondered  they  could  not  see  as  I  saw,  and  feel  as  I  felt, 
after  explaining  to  them  the  great  truths  of  the  everlasting 
gospel.  On  the  contrary,  I  was  treated  by  some  as  one 
who  was  somewhat  disordered  in  mind. 

"  Having  a  desire  to  visit  Warrington,  a  town  about  six 
miles  from  where  I  lived,  to  purchase  a  trifling  article,  I 
went  thither.  It  was  on  a  calm,  beautiful  summer  evening. 
All  nature  seemed  to  be  at  rest,  not  a  breath  of  wind  to 
move  a  leaf.  In  the  clear  blue  expanse  of  heaven  was  to 
be  seen  a  single  cloud  passing  over  the  disc  of  the  sun  as 
he  hastened  toward  his  going  down.  I  seemed  more  than 
usual  to  feel  admiration  of  the  handiworks  of  God.  I  was 
imperceptibly  led  to  a  train  of  thinking  of  the  past :  how 
much  of  my  life  I  had  spent  serving  the  world  and  not 
Him  who  died  for  me  ;  that  I  had  really  been  living  to  no 
purpose.  I  thought  of  the  present  :  how  little  I  could  do. 
It  was  more  pleasurable  to  contemplate  the  future.  The 
prospect  of  ere  long  being  put  in  a  position  of  honour  and 
of  trust  had  of  course  a  charm  to  one  who  was  yet  in  his 
teens,  besides  the  hope  of  having  it  in  my  power  to  do 
good.  Little  did  I  imagine  that  this  bright  picture  I  had 
been  painting  of  future  comfort  and  usefulness  was  in  the 
course  of  an  hour  to  vanish  like  a  dream,  and  that  I  should 
be  taught  the  lesson  that  it  is  not  in  man  to  direct  his  steps. 

"  With  thoughts  like  these  I  entered  the  town,  and, 
passing  over  a  bridge,  I  observed  a  placard.  I  stood  and 
read.  It  was  a  missionary  placard,  the  first  I  had  seen  in 
my  life.  It  announced  that  a  missionary  meeting  was  to 
be  held,  and  a  Rev.  William  Roby,  of  Manchester,  would 
take  the  chair.  I  stood  some  time  reading  over  and  over 
again,  although  I  found  that  the  time  the  meeting  was  to 
be  held  was  past.     Passers-by  must  have  wondered  at  my 


SEEKS   TO   BECOME   A    MISSIONARY.       17 

fixedness.  I  could  look  at  nothing  but  the  words  on  the 
placard,  which  I  can  still  imagine  I  see  before  me.  The 
stories  of  the  Moravian  missionaries  in  Greenland  and 
Labrador  which  I  had  heard  my  mother  read  when  I  was 
a  boy,  which  had  been  entirely  lost  to  memory,  never  hav- 
ing been  once  thought  of  for  many  years,  came  into  vivid 
remembrance  as  if  fresh  from  her  lips.  It  is  impossible  for 
me  to  describe  the  tumult  which  took  hold  of  my  mind. 

"  I  hastened  to  obtain  the  trifle  I  wanted  in  town,  and 
returned  to  the  placard  and  read  it  over  once  more,  and 
now  wended  my  solitary  way  homeward  another  man,  or 
rather  with  another  heart.  The  earthly  prospects  I  had  so 
lately  been  thinking  of  with  pleasure  had  entirely  vanished, 
nor  could  any  power  of  mind  recall  their  influence.  My 
thoughts  became  entirely  occupied  with  the  inquiry  how  I 
could  serve  the  missionary  cause.  No  Missionary  Society 
would  receive  me.  I  had  never  been  at  college  or  at  an 
academy.  I,  however,  began  to  devise  plans.  I  had  been 
for  a  short  time  a  young  sailor,  and  I  resolved  to  go  to  sea 
again  and  get  landed  on  some  island  or  foreign  shore, 
where  I  might  teach  poor  heathen  to  know  the  Saviour. 

"  Soon  afterwards,  having  heard  that  a  Wesleyan  Con- 
ference was  to  be  held  in  Manchester,  I  proposed  to  a 
young  man  with  whom  I  had  become  intimate  that  wc 
should  go  thither.  During  our  few  days'  sojourn,  hearing 
first  one  and  then  another,  I  resolved  on  hearing  William 
Roby.  His  appearance  and  discourse,  delivered  with 
gravity  and  solemnity,  pleased  me  much.  In  the  evening 
the  lady  of  the  house  where  we  lodged  remarked  that  he 
was  a  great  missionary  man,  and  sometimes  sent  out  young 
men  to  the  heathen.  This  remark  at  once  fixed  my  pur- 
pose of  calling  on  that  great  man,  but  how  and  when  was 
a  very  serious  matter  to  one  of  a  naturally  retiring  habit. 
I  thought  and  prayed  during  the  night  over  the  impor- 
tant step  I  was  about  to  take.  There  was  something  like 
daring  in  the  attempt  which  I  could  not  overcome.  Next 
morning,  when  I  awoke,  my  heart  beat  at  the  prospect 
before  me.  I  had  told  my  beloved  companion,  Hamlet 
Clarke,  what  I  intended  doing,  and  asked  him  to  go  with 

3 


i8  HIS  FIRST   CALL   ON   MR.  ROBY. 

me.     This  he  decidedly  objected  to,  but  he  wished  me  to 
go,  and  promised  to  wait  within  sight  till  I  should  return, 

"  Though  the  distance  we  had  to  walk  was  more  than  a 
mile  it  seemed  too  short  for  me  to  get  my  thoughts  in 
order.  Reaching  the  end  of  a  rather  retired  street,  I  pro- 
ceeded with  slow  step.  On  getting  to  the  door  I  stood  a 
minute  or  two,  and  my  heart  failed,  and  I  turned  back 
towards  my  friend,  but  soon  took  fresh  courage,  and 
came  back  again.  The  task  of  knocking  at  the  good 
man's  door  seemed  very  hard,  A  second  time  I  reached 
the  door,  and  had  scarcely  set  my  foot  on  the  first  step 
when  my  heart  again  failed.  I  feared  I  was  acting  pre- 
sumptuously. 

"  At  last,  after  walking  backward  and  forward  for  a 
few  minutes,  I  returned  to  the  door  and  knocked.  This 
was  no  sooner  done  than  I  would  have  given  a  thousand 
pounds,  if  I  had  possessed  them,  not  to  have  knocked  ;  and 
I  hoped,  oh  !  how  I  hoped  with  all  my  heart,  that  Mr.  Roby 
might  not  be  at  home,  resolving  that  if  so  I  should  never 
again  make  such  an  attempt,  A  girl  opened  the  door.  '  Is 
Mr.  Roby  in?'  I  inquired  with  a  faltering  voice.  'Yes,' 
was  the  reply,  and  I  was  shown  into  the  parlour. 

"  The  dreaded  man  whom  I  wished  to  see  soon  made 
his  appearance.  Of  course  I  had  to  inform  him  who  I  was, 
and  my  simple  tale  was  soon  told.  He  listened  to  all  I 
had  to  say  in  answer  to  some  questions  with  a  kindly 
smile,  I  had  given  him  an  outline  of  my  Christian  experi- 
ence, and  my  wish  to  be  a  helper  in  the  missionary  cause. 
I  did  not  even  tell  him  that  it  was  his  name  on  the  mis- 
sionary placard  which  had  directed  my  steps  to  his  door. 
He  said  he  would  write  to  the  Directors  of  the  Society,  and 
•on  hearing  from  them  would  communicate  their  wishes 
respecting  me.  I  returned  to  my  charge,  and  after  some 
weeks  was  requested  to  visit  Manchester,  that  he  might 
•get  me  placed  in  a  situation  which  would  afford  him  the 
•opportunity  of  examining  me  as  to  my  fitness  for  mission- 
ary work.  On  my  arrival,  Mr.  Roby  took  me  to  several  of 
his  friends  to  obtain,  if  possible,  a  situation  in  a  garden,  a 
•mercantile  house,  or  a  bank  ;  but  all  failed,  there  being  no 


HE   GOES    TO   DUKINEIELD   NURSERY,     ig  ' 

opening  for  any  one  at  the  time.  Mr.  Roby  then  re- 
marked, '  I  have  still  one  friend  who  employs  many  men 
to  whom  I  can  apply,  provided  you  have  no  objection  to 
go  into  a  nursery  garden.' 

"  '  Go  ! '  I  replied  ;  '  I  would  go  anywhere  and  do  any- 
thing for  which  I  may  have  ability.'  Very  providentially 
Mr.  Smith  of  Dukinficld  happened  to  be  in  town,  and  at 
once  agreed  that  I  should  proceed  to  his  nursery  garden. 
Thus  was  I  led,  by  a  way  that  I  knew  not,  for  another 
important  end  ;  for  had  I  obtained  a  situation  in  Man- 
chester I  might  not  have  had  my  late  dear  wife  to  be  my 
companion  and  partaker  in  all  my  hopes  and  fears  for 
more  than  half  a  century  in  Africa.  As  it  was,  Mr.  Smith's 
only  daughter  possessing  a  warm  missionary  heart,  we  soon 
became  attached  to  one  another ;  but  she  was  not  allowed 
to  join  mc  in  Africa  till  nearly  three  years  after  I  left. 

"  Mr.  Smith,  whose  house  was  a  house  of  call  for  minis- 
ters, and  who  was  always  ready  to  advance  the  Redeemer's 
kingdom  at  home  and  abroad,  only  bethought  himself  on 
returning  home  that  the  step  he  had  taken  might  eventually 
deprive  him  of  his  only  daughter ;  and  so,  in  the  provi- 
dence of  God,  it  turned  out.  It  w^ould  be  unnecessary  to 
detail  the  subsequent  events  during  my  stay — under  the 
watchful  care  and  instruction  of  Mr.  Roby,  which  lasted 
nearly  a  year — at  the  nursery  garden,  from  which  I  could 
visit  him  only  once  or  twice  a  week." 

A  letter  from  Mr.  Roby  himself  bears  upon  this 
period  : 

"  Noveinler  21,  1815. 

"  Dear  Sir, — I  have  been  anxiously  waiting  for  an 
answer  to  the  letter  which  I  wrote  to  the  Directors  of  the 
Missionary  Society  respecting  you,  and  did  not  receive  it 
till  this  morning.  It  informs  me  that  at  present  they  have 
so  many  applications  that  they  cannot  receive  all  who  offer 
their  services  for  missionary  work,  and  are  therefore  obliged 
to  select  those  who  po.ssess  the  most  promising  acquire- 
ments. On  this  account  they  are  under  the  necessity  of 
declining  your  offer  at  present." 


20     UNFOLDS  HIS  PLANS  TO  HIS  PARENTS, 

Mr.  Roby  was,  however,  convinced  that  the  young 
gardener  had  good  metal  in  him,  and,  carrying  out 
the  measures  above  described,  eventually  prevailed 
upon  the  Directors  to  reconsider  their  decision. 

Robert  was  not  for  some  time  able  to  screw  up 
his  courage  to  tell  his  parents  the  nature  of  the 
great  step  he  was  taking.  In  a  letter  to  them  about 
this  time,  he  says  : 

"You  requested  to  know  what  I  intended  doing  next 
season  ;  and  I  doubt  not  but  you  will  be  surprised  at  my 
informing  you  tnat  I  leave  my  present  situation  next 
Saturday,  being  the  23rd  of  December,  and  I  intend  stop- 
ping a  week  with  my  religious  friends  in  this  place,  and 
then  go,  about  New  Year's  day,  to  a  nursery  near  Man- 
chester. Some  of  the  circumstances  I  will  mention  which 
have  occurred  within  this  short  time  to  me.  About  the 
month  of  July  there  was  a  situation  offered  me,  and  it 
seems  to  be  of  great  extent.  I  was  to  be  both  factor, 
steward,  and  gardener,  and  have  under  my  charge  some 
hundreds  of  acres  of  farming,  with  a  number  of  men  and  a 
garden,  &c.  ;  and  my  description,  it  seems,  was  given  to  the 
gentleman,  and  he  said  there  was  nothing  to  hinder  me  but 
one  thing — and  what  was  that  do  you  think  ?  It  was,  if  I 
would  give  up  going  to  the  Methodists  I  would  just  suit 
him  ;  but  my  answer  was,  I  thanked  them  for  their  good 
intentions,  but  I  would  prefer  my  God  to  white  and  yellow 
ore.  Some  time  after  another  situation  was  offered  me, 
but  I  did  not  feel  a  willingness  in  my  mind  to  accept  of  it, 
not  having  a  desire  to  settle  so  soon.  My  master  was  very 
good.  He  said  that  if  I  found  employers  he  would  become 
responsible  for  a  good  character.  Some  time  about  a  fort- 
night ago  kind  Providence  opened  a  door  for  me  to  the 
above-mentioned  place.  I  am  not  driven  there,  but  I  am 
called  to  go  there — not  for  the  present  benefit,  but  for  the 
future  good.  The  wages  are  fifteen  shillings  per  week  ; 
mine  will  be  only  twelve  or  thirteen,  on  account  that  I  will 
only  work  five  days  in  a  week.  The  reason  of  this  I  will 
leave  a  future  period  to  determine." 


HIS  FATIIEirS  ADVERSE   COMMENTS       21 

To  this  his  father  repHes  : 

"  We  are  not  without  our  apprehensions  that  you  may 
not  have  made  a  very  profitable  change.  You  say  that 
the  wages  are  fifteen  shillings  per  week,  but  as  you  are 
only  to  work  five  days  you  will  have  but  twelve  or  thirteen 
shillings  a  week.  But  you  have  left  us  to  conjecture  how 
you  are  to  employ  yourself  on  the  sixth  day.  But  if 
my  opinion  be  rightly  founded,  I  presume  that  you  mean 
to  endeavour  to  fit  yourself  for  another  line  of  life  ;  but  I 
would  have  you  duly  to  consider  the  importance  of  such  an 
undertaking,  and  to  weigh  well  what  our  Saviour  says  to 
the  builder  in  the  Scriptures,  and  to  first  sit  down  and 
count  the  cost,  and  to  see  whether  you  have  sufficient  to 
finish  or  not  ;  and  to  consider  what  was  said  to  David,  that 
the  Lord  said  that  he  did  well  that  he  had  it  in  his  heart 
to  build  an  house  unto  the  Lord.  And  we  think  that  you 
might  both  live  usefully  to  your  neighbours  and  profitabl}^ 
to  yourself  without  engaging  in  a  line  of  that  kind  ;  neither 
do  we  think  that  your  health  would  altogether  agree  with 
such  an  undertaking,  as  I  verily  believe  that  you  will  find 
a  close  application  to  study  as  hard  an  undertaking  as 
anything  you  have  hitherto  engaged  in. 

"You  mention  having  had  the  offer  of  a  good  situation, 
which  in  my  opinion  was  rather  flattering,  especially  for 
one  of  your  age.  But  as  you  were  to  be  bound  up  to  a 
certain  mode  of  worship,  we  think  you  did  well  in  refusing 
it." 

It  was  not  till  the  month  of  May  follovi^ing*  that 
he  v^^rote  and  made  his  parents  acquainted  with  the 
nature  of  the  determination  to  which  he  had  come  : 
and  even  then  it  was  only  under  the  persuasion  of 
his  good  friend  and  adviser,  Mr.  Roby :  so  great  was 
his  diffidence,  and,  we  may  add,  so  heavy  did  he  feel 
the  news  would  be  to  them.  To  his  mother  it  was 
a  trial  of  no  ordinary  sort.  In  those  days,  to  go  out 
into  the  heathen  world  was  like  taking  an  eternal 


22    AND  RESIGNATION  TO   THE   INEVITABLE. 

farewell  so  far  as  this  world  was  concerned  No 
swift  steamers  then  crossed  the  ocean  in  a  few  days 
or  a  few  weeks.  A  great  part  of  heathendom  was 
an  unknown  region,  into  which  few  had  gone  and 
from  which  still  fewer  ever  returned. 

In  a  letter  full  of  dignified  resignation  the  old 
man  bids  his  son  Godspeed,  declaring  that  whatever 
may  be  his  own  feelings  and  those  of  Robert's 
mother,  they  dare  not  oppose  his  design,  lest  haply 
in  so  doing  they  should  be  found  fighting  against 
God. 


CHAPTER  III. 
PREPARATIONS  AND  DEPARTURE  FOR  A-FRICA. 

1816. 

T  last  the  Directors  resolved  to  accept  his 
services,  and  he  left  Dukinfield  nursery  for 
the  purpose  of  being  close  to  Mr.  Roby  in 
Manchester,  to  receive  such  superintendence  as  was 
possible  in  his  studies ;  but  as  this  period  was  not 
allowed  to  extend  over  more  than  a  few  months, 
whatever  gifts  may  have  been  bestowed  upon  Robert 
Moffat  to  fit  him  for  his  work  as  a  missionary,  it 
certainly  could  not  be  said  that  they  came  in  the 
form  of  collegiate  opportunities. 

The  time  drew  near  for  his  departure,  and  he 
paid  a  hurried  visit  to  Scotland  to  bid  farewell  to 
his  parents.  He  little  thought  of  ever  seeing  them 
again,  though  they  were  both  spared  to  welcome 
him  on  his  return  twenty-three  years  afterwards. 
He  never  saw  his  two  sisters  again.  In  a  letter 
written  from  Manchester  after  his  visit,  he  says  : 

"  Having  left  Edinburgh  with  emotions  which  it  is  our 
lot  to  share,  I  arrived  here  at  five  o'clock  the  Sabbath 
morning    following,  very   much  fatigued.     My   bundle  re- 


24     EARNEST  LONGINGS  FOR   THE    WORK. 

ceived  no  injury.  I  caught  a  slight  cold.  I  availed  myself 
of  three  hours'  sleep,  and  with  unusual  transport  I  accord- 
ingly went  to  hear  our  beloved  pastor.  Having  embraced 
the  opportunity  of  conversing  with  him,  I  could  not  learn 
the  precise  time  that  we  were  to  depart,  further  than  that 
letters  had  been  received  stating  that  we  were  to  be  in 
readiness,  and  that  it  was  expected  that  we  were  to  take 
partners  along  with  us,  and  that  in  so  doing  it  would  be 
approved  by  the  Directors  (but  more  of  this  hereafter)." 

After  a  description  of  the  missionary  anniversary- 
services  held  in  Manchester,  v^hich  were  marked 
with  the  enthusiasm  of  those  early  days,  he  goes  on 
to  say,  in  reference  to  his  approaching  departure  and 
that  of  his  companions  : 

"  Mr.  Kitchingman  and  Mr.  Pratt  both  take  wives  along 
with  them,  but  from  particular  reasons  I  go  alone.  I  made 
it  a  matter  of  prayer  to  God,  and  from  the  clearest  dicta- 
tion of  His  Providence  He  bids  me  go  alone;  and  He  who 
appoints  crosses  and  disappointments  also  imparts  resigna- 
tion and  grace  sufficient  unto  the  day.  So  I  am  bold  to 
adopt  the  language  of  Eli,  and  to  say  :  '  It  is  the  Lord,  let 
Him  do  what  seemeth  Him  good.'  My  dear  parents,  such 
language  may  seem  strange  unto  you,  but  its  interpretation 
is  known  unto  me  in  a  measure,  and  what  we  know  not 
now  we  shall  know  hereafter.  My  present  feeling  with  re- 
spect to  my  undertaking,  is  that  I  long  to  be  gone  ;  I  long 
to  be  engaged  in  the  blessed  work  of  saying  to  the  heathen, 
'  Behold  your  God  ! '  Do  not  think  that  the  future  scenes 
cast  me  down.  No  !  behold  I  go  full  of  hope,  transported 
at  the  prospect  of  being  counted  worthy  of  undergoing  a 
few  transient  troubles  for  His  sake,  who  for  our  sake  be- 
came poor,  who  for  our  sakes  was  despised  and  rejected, 
was  crucified  and  slain.  No,  my  Redeemer !  let  me  not 
sink,  let  me  not  faint.  Oh  !  that  when  I  die,  I  may  die 
fighting  in  the  armies  of  the  living  God  ! 

"  My  colleague,  Mr.  Kitchingman,  has  earnestly  requested 
me  to  remember  him  to  you  though  unknown  to  him.     I 


HE   RESOLVES   TO   GO    UNUARRIED.      25 

have  to  be  grateful  to  God  who  hath  appointed  me  such  an 
one.  He  is  endeared  to  me,  and  worthy  of  my  affection, 
I  shall  be  happy  to  spend  my  days  with  him  :  so  what  the 
Lord  takes  away  on  the  one  hand  He  gives  on  another." 

This  early  judgment  of  Mr.  Kitchingrnan  w^as  not 
belied.  He  always  remained  a  valued  friend,  though 
his  lot  was  to  work  in  another  part  of  South  Africa. 
He  died  at  his  post  many  years  afterwards  ;  one  of 
his  sons  followed  him  in  the  missionary  work,  and  is 
also  gone  to  his  rest  ;  and  others  of  the  family  are 
still  entering  into  their  labours. 

The  "  interpretation  "  of  one  passage  in  the  fore- 
going letter  is  to  be  found  in  a  few  lines  addressed 
to  the  Rev.  George  Burder  by  Mr.  Roby. 

"  Manchestf:r,  A7eg.  31,  1816. 

"  Our  festival  is  concluded,  and  it  has  been  a  festival 
indeed,  at  least  equal  to  any  that  I  have  enjoyed  in  London. 
The  sermons  were  uncommonly  excellent,  the  meeting  for 
business  delightful,  the  missionary  communion  solemnly 
affecting ;  the  collections  at  the  several  services  amounted 
to  upwards  of  ^500   ...  . 

"  Poor  Moffat's  amiable  disposition  and  eminent  devoted- 
ness  have  attracted  the  affectionate  regards  of  his  master's 
daughter,  a  young  lady  of  high  piety,  of  polished  manners, 
and  the  expectant  of  a  considerable  fortune.  She  possesses 
as  truly  a  missionary  spirit  as  he,  and  is  eager  to  accom- 
pany him  ;  but  her  parents  forbid  it,  and  both  she  and  he 
therefore  determine  to  sacrifice  their  ardent  wishes." 

Moffat  writes  to  his  parents  from  London  on  the 
twenty-third  of  September : 

"  I  left  Manchester  on  Friday  the  13th,  at  four  o'clock  in 
the  afternoon.  It  was  with  no  small  degree  of  sorrow  that 
I  bid  a  final  adieu  to  my  present  friends,  who  were  friends 
indeed,  who   manifested  their  distinguished   kindness  to- 


26  HIS  FIRST   VISIT   TO   LONDON. 

wards  me  in  an  extraordinary  manner.  The  family  of 
Smith,  with  whom  I  served  at  Dukinfield,  were  truly  kind 
to  me,  with  many  others  whose  names  are  written  in  heaven, 
and  who  shall  be  rewarded  at  the  resurrection  of  the  just. 
It  is  impossible  for  me  to  be  grateful  enough  to  God  for 
such  a  friend  as  Mr.  Roby.  Truly  his  kindness,  like  that 
of  a  father,  will  not  be  easily  obliterated  from  my  mind. 
I  have  no  doubt  but  it  will  follow  us  as  long  as  the  wheels 
of  life  continue  to  move. 

"  I  visited  the  Kooms  on  Friday  morning  and  saw  Mr. 
Burder,  secretary.  I  spent  some  time  in  viewing  the 
museum,  which  contains  a  great  number  of  curiosities  from 
China,  Africa,  South  Seas,  and  West  Indies.  It  would  be 
foolish  for  me  to  give  you  a  description.  Suffice  it  to  say 
that  the  sight  is  truly  awful,  the  appearance  of  the  wild 
beasts  is  very  terrific,  but  I  am  unable  to  describe  the  sen- 
sations of  my  mind  when  gazing  on  thp  objects  of  pagan 
worship.  Alas  !  how  fallen  my  fellow-creatures,  bowing 
down  to  forms  enough  to  frighten  a  Roman  soldier,  enough 
to  shake  the  hardest  heart.  Oh  that  I  had  a  thousand  lives, 
and  a  thousand  bodies  :  all  of  them  should  be  devoted  to  no 
other  employment  but  to  preach  Christ  to  these  degraded, 
despised,  yet  beloved  mortals.  I  have  not  repented  in  be- 
coming a  missionary,  and  should  I  die  in  the  march,  and 
never  enter  the  field  of  battle,  all  will  be  well. 

"  On  Saturday  night  I  heard  a  minister  of  Lady  Hunt- 
ingdon's Connexion,  at  Spa  Fields,  and  on  Sabbath  I  heard 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Burder  and  Dr.  Waugh,  that  worthy  Scotch- 
man, like  another  John  Knox.  To-day,  which  is  Monday, 
the  Committee  of  Directors  met  for  examination,  but  there 
was  very  little  said  to  us — from  our  having  been  examined 
at  Manchester,  I  suppose.  On  my  entering  the  room  with 
the  rest.  Dr.  Waugh,  on  shaking  hands,  said,  '  Are  not  you 
one  of  Ebbie  Brune's  lads.?'  I  said  that  I  had  heard  him 
frequently,  and  knew  him  well.  I  understand  that  Dr.  W 
was  one  of  his  father's  pupils.  He  speaks  of  them  with 
great  feeling  and  respect.  I  was  almost  afraid  of  appear- 
ing before  the  Directors  to  be  examined,  for  they  turn  one 
outside  in.     However,  next   Monday  we  are  appointed  to 


SET  APART  TO  THE  WORK  AND  EMBARKS.  27 

meet,  and  be  publicly  ordained  and  designated  to  the  im- 
portant work." 

On  the  evening  of  the  thirtieth  of  September  nine 
missionaries  were  set  apart.  The  service  was  at 
Surrey  Chapel.  The  names  of  Leifchild,  Winter, 
\Vaugh,and  John  Campbell  of  Kingsland— household 
words  to  a  past  generation — appear  on  this  occasion 
in  connection  with  what  was  naturally  a  specially 
interesting  service  ;  though  few  could  have  formed 
any  adequate  forecast  of  the  wide  interest  that  would 
attach  to  the  names  of  two  who  were  then  buckling 
on  their  armour.  Four  men  were  destined  to  the 
South  Seas,  of  whom  John  Williams  was  to  be  the 
first  martyr  of  Erromanga.  Other  five  were  for 
South  Africa. 

During  the  discussions  in  the  missionary  com- 
mittee as  to  how  this  band  of  men  was  to  be  dis- 
tributed, it  had  first  been  proposed  that  Williams 
and  Moffat  should  both  go  to  Polynesia  ;  but  this 
was  overruled  at  the  suggestion  of  Dr.  Waugh, 
who  deemed  "  thae  twa  lads  ower  young  to  gang 
tegither,"  so  they  were  separated.  On  these  small 
links  hang  our  lives. 

After  many  delays — which  intending  voyagers  then 
took  as  a  matter  of  course — the  party  embarked  at 
Gravesend,  on  the  eighteenth  of  October,  in  the 
Alacrity,  Captain  Findlay.  The  pilot  left  them  in 
the  Downs  on  the  twentieth,  bringing  one  more 
affectionate  letter  from  Robert  to  his  parents  ;  the 
shores  of  England  faded  from  his  view,  and  he  was 
launched  on  the  enterprise  of  his  life. 


CHAPTER   IV. 

JOURNEY  20  NA  MA  QUA  LAND, 
1817-1818. 

OBEKT  MOFEAT  and  his  companions 
reached  Cape  Town  on  the  thirteenth  of 
January,  181 7,  having  been  eighty-six  days 
at  sea  in  their  Httle  brig.  They  were  well  pleased 
with  their  passage  and  with  each  other,  peace  and 
goodwill  having  prevailed  among  them,  and  the 
captain  having  shown  them  unvarying  kindness. 
They  were  received  in  Cape  Town  by  the  Rev. 
George  Thom,  then  or  afterwards  a  minister  of  the 
Dutch  Reformed  Church. 

Two  of  the  party  were  destined  for  stations  within 
the  Colony ;  Moffat  and  Kitchingman  were  to  go  to 
Namaqualand,  which  was  beyond  the  border,  and  it 
was  necessary  for  them  to  have  the  permission  of  the 
Government  before  they  could  proceed  on  their  jour- 
ney. To  their  great  surprise  this  permission  was  re- 
fused. An  interview  with  His  Excellency  the  Gover- 
nor followed,  of  which  the  following  is  a  record  : 

"  His  Excellency  stated  that  it  was  the  intention  to 
prohibit  us  as  well  as  other  nnissionaries  from  proceeding 


OBSTRUCTIVE  ACTION  OF  GOVERNMENT.  29 

beyond  the  limits  of  the  Colony;  that  he  had  been  informed 
that  many  of  the  servants  and  slaves  belonging  to  the 
farmers  within  the  Colony  had  fled  to  Griqua  Town  as  an 
asylum  ;  and  that  he  understood  from  a  letter  that  Mr. 
Anderson  exhorted  them  to  go  back,  but  that  he  con- 
sidered it  not  the  intention  of  the  Society  to  drive  such 
characters  back  by  force  of  arms  to  their  former  masters. 

"  Mr.  Taylor  replied  that  it  certainly  was  not  the  intention 
of  the  Society  that  we  should  arbitrarily  govern  by  force 
of  arms,  but  that  we  should  introduce  religious  civilization. 

"His  Excellency  stated  that  the  collecting  of  individuals 
together  was  likely  to  prove  fatal,  they  being  without  the 
limits  of  the  Colony.  He  said  because  the  population  of 
the  Colony  was  thin,  that  when  men  were  called  up  in  case 
of  war  they  were  not  to  be  found  ;  and  that,  also,  such  a 
body  of  men  without  government  laws  was  likely  to  mutiny, 
and  so  to  prove  fatal  to  the  missionaries  and  also  to  the 
Colony." 

It  was  in  vain  for  the  missionaries  to  plead  and 
to  urge  such  arguments  as  common  sense  suggested. 
It  was  true  that  escaped  slaves  and  criminals  were 
continually  making  their  way  across  the  frontier  and 
settling  beyond  the  reach  of  the  Government ;  but 
this  was  going  on  quite  apart  from  the  question  as 
to  whether  there  were  or  were  not  missionaries  in 
those  regions  already  ;  and  it  did  not  seem  to  occur 
to  the  men  in  authority  that  if  Christian  teachers 
chose  to  exile  themselves,  and  perhaps  to  incur 
peril  in  following  their  duty  by  going  into  those 
remote  districts,  their  influence  would  tend  to 
diminish  the  dangers  and  inconveniences  which 
were  supposed  to  threaten  the  Colony. 

Under  these  circumstances  the  only  thing  that 
was  left  for  them  to  do  was  to  await  orders  from 
home,  and  meanwhile   to  make  the  best  use   they 


30  STAYS  AT  STELLENBOSCH. 

could  of  their  time.  Taylor  went,  for  the  time,  to 
a  missionary  institution  not  far  away  ;  the  Kitching- 
mans  took  up  their  abode  in  Tulbagh,  and  Moffat 
in  Stcllenbosch,  the  latter  a  village  about  thirty-six 
miles  from  Cape  Town.  Here  he  lodged  with  a 
Dutch  wine  farmer  named  Hamman,  who  was  not 
only  hospitable,  but  a  man  of  deep  piety  and  earnest 
missionary  spirit. 

The  object  of  this  arrangement  was  to  give  the 
young  missionary  an  opportunity  of  learning  Dutch, 
which  it  did  not  take  him  long  to  do,  placed  as  he 
was  among  those  who  could  speak  or  understand 
no  other  laneuacre.  Much  as  he  must  have  been 
discouraged  and  perplexed  by  the  long  delay,  it  was 
always  a  great  advantage  to  him  in  after  life  to  have 
had  this  enforced  detention.  He  was  in  a  position 
to  go  to  work  at  once  when  he  did  eventually  reach 
Namaqualand,  and  it  was  at  all  times  a  great  advan- 
tage to  him  during  his  missionary  career  to  be  able 
to  speak  Dutch.  During  the  period  of  his  stay  at 
Stellenbosch,  he  accompanied  Mr.  Thom  on  an 
evangelistic  tour  extending  over  six  weeks,  in  which 
they  rode  a  distance  of  about  seven  hundred  miles, 
in  the  district  of  the  Western  Province  adjacent  to 
the  Cape. 

To  any  one  who  knows  the  present  condition  of 
the  country  round  which  they  travelled,  it  would  be 
curious  to  read  how  the  evangelists  found  them- 
selves  in  a  desolate  region,  with  primitive  home- 
steads few  and  far  between,  where  now  many  a 
smilinof  villasfe  lies  nestled  amongfst  its  trees.  In 
these  then  lonely  spots  small  congregations  gladly 
assembled    from    many    miles    around    to    listen  to 


DEPARTURE   FROM  CAPE   TOWN.  31 

the  preaching'  of  the  gospel,  which  was  to  them  a 
rare  privilege. 

Sometimes  the  travellers  would  be  belated  in  the 
wilds,  and  would  have  to  make  their  bivouac  on  a 
hillside,  and  be  treated  to  a  serenade  more  wild 
than  sweet  of  jackals  and  hyaenas.  From  these 
there  was  no  danger  :  but  they  were  sometimes  in 
fear  of  visitors  of  another  kind,  for  the  mountainous 
districts  were  full  of  fugitives,  mostly  runaway  slaves, 
whose  hand  was  against  every  man. 

After  a  further  stay  at  Stellenbosch,  Moffat 
returned  to  Cape  Town,  where  he  busied  himself 
with  picking  up  everything  in  the  shape  of  practical 
knowledge  that  came  within  his  reach,  and  found  a 
congenial  outlet  for  his  zeal  in  visiting  the  military 
hospital.  Many  of  the  soldiers  were  Scotch,  and  he 
had  a  peculiarly  tender  feeling  towards  soldiers. 
His  brother  Alexander  had  gone  to  India  in  the 
ranks  some  years  before,  and  at  this  time  nothing 
was  known  as  to  what  had  become  of  him. 

The  longf  detention  at  leni^th  came  to  an  end. 
The  scruples  of  the  Governor  were  overcome,  ap- 
parently by  the  efforts  of  Mr.  Thom,  who  was 
possessed  of  some  influence  and  of  much  persever- 
ance. Permission  was  c^ranted  to  Kitchino^man  and 
Moffat  to  go  their  way.  No  time  was  lost ;  the 
necessary  preparations  were  made,  waggons  were 
bought,  oxen  were  hired,  and  on  the  twenty-second 
of  September,  181 7,  Moffat  bade  farewell  to  the 
many  warm  friends  whom  he  had  tound  in  Cape 
Town  and  Stellenbosch. 

His  companions  were  the  Kitchingmans  and  the 
Ebners.      With  the  latter  he  expected  not  only  to 


32  EPISODE   AT  A    BOER  FARM. 

travel  but  to  be  a  fellow-labourer  at  Afrikaner's 
kraal,  where  Ebner  had  already  been  for  some  time 
resident. 

The  record  of  the  journey,  like  many  in  the  olden 
time,  is  one  of  hardship  and  difficulty.  Every  day 
which  took  the  travellers  farther  from  Cape  Town 
brought  them  into  a  more  desolate  region,  in  which 
the  lonely  homesteads  became  fewer,  and  approached 
an  almost  complete  isolation.  With  a  few  excep- 
tions the  farmers  were  friendly  and  wished  the 
travellers  well.  The  chief  Afrikaner  had  earned 
himself  a  terrible  reputation,  and  the  reports  that 
he  was  now  a  changed  character  were  not  readily 
believed  by  the  Boers.  Many  were  the  gloomy 
prognostications.  One  motherly  dame  shed  tears 
over  the  comely  lad — for  he  was  little  more,  being 
not  quite  twenty-two  years  old — who,  in  her  belief, 
was  going  into  the  lion's  mouth. 

One  evening  he  halted  at  a  farm  which  showed 
signs  of  belonging  to  a  man  of  wealth  and  impor- 
tance, w^ho  had  many  slaves.  The  old  patriarch, 
hearing  that  he  was  a  missionary,  gave  him  a  hearty 
welcome,  and  proposed  that  in  the  evening  he  should 
give  them  a  service.  No  proposal  could  have  been 
more  acceptable,  and  he  sat  down  to  the  plain  but 
plentiful  meal  with  a  light  heart.  The  sons  and 
daughters  came  in.  Supper  ended,  a  clearance  was 
made,  the  big  Bible  and  the  psalm-books  were 
brought  out,  and  the  family  was  seated. 

"  But  where  are  the  servants  ,'*"  asked  Moffat. 

*'  Servants  !  what  do  you  mean  ?  " 

"  I  mean  the  Hottentots,  of  whom  I  see  so  many 
on  your  farm." 


PREACHING   TO   THE    ''DOGS."  33 

"  Hottentots !  Do  you  mean  that,  then  !  Let  me 
go  to  the  mountain  and  call  the  baboons,  if  you 
want  a  congregation  of  that  sort.  Or  stop,  I  have 
it :  my  sons,  call  the  dogs  that  lie  in  front  of  the 
door — they  will  do." 

The  missionary  quietly  dropped  an  attempt  which 
threatened  a  wrathful  ending,  and  commenced  the 
service.  The  psalm  was  sung,  prayer  was  offered, 
and  the  preacher  read  the  story  of  the  Syrophenician 
woman,  and  selected  more  especially  the  words : 
"Truth,  Lord,  but  even  the  dogs  eat  of  the  crumbs 
that  fall  from,  the  master's  table."  He  had  not 
spoken  many  minutes  when  the  voice  of  the  old 
man  was  again  heard  :  "Will  Mynheer  sit  down 
and  wait  a  litde  ;  he  shall  have  the  Hottentots." 

The  summons  was  given,  the  motley  crowd 
trooped  in,  many  who  probably  had  never  been 
within  the  door  of  their  master's  house  before,  and 
many  more  who  never  before  had  heard  the  voice 
of  a  preacher. 

When  the  service  was  over  and  the  astonished 
Hottentots  had  dispersed,  the  farmer  turned  to  his 
guest  and  said,  "  My  friend,  you  took  a  hard 
hammer  and  you  have  broken  a  hard  head." 

This  must  not  be  taken  as  an  instance  repre- 
senting the  universal  feeling  of  a  class.  Even  in 
those  days  there  were  God-fearing  and  earnest- 
minded  Boers  who  did  their  best  for  their  slaves ; 
and  now,  thanks  to  the  labours  of  many  devoted 
ministers,  there  is  a  true  and  growing  missionary 
spirit  in  the  Dutch  population  of  South  Africa. 

As  the  travellers  got  farther  on  their  way  their 
difficulties    increased.     They   advanced  into  an  al- 

4 


34       ARRIVAL   AT  AFRIKANER'S  KRAAL. 

most  pathless  region,  barren  and  stony  hills,  inter- 
secting plains  of  sand,  with  scanty  trickling  springs, 
and  occasional  but  uncertain  pools  of  water,  at  long 
intervals.  Their  oxen  grew  weaker  day  by  day; 
the  little  flock  of  sheep  on  which  they  depended  for 
mutton  was  dispersed  by  the  hysena  and  lost;  and 
they  were  thankful  to  reach  at  last  a  haven  of  rest 
in  the  missionary  station  of  Byzondermeid,  more 
than  two  months  after  they  had  left  Cape  Town. 
Here  the  Kitchingmans  were  to  remain,  and  Moffat 
after  a  time  continued  his  journey  to  Afrikaner's 
kraal,  where  he  rejoined  Mr.  Ebner  and  his  family, 
on  the  twenty-sixth  of  January,  1818. 


CHAPTER  V. 

LIFE  IN  NAMAQUALAND. 
1818. 

ROBERT  MOFFAT'S  stay  in  Namaqualand 
extended  to  a  little  over  twelve  months, 
and  only  a  part  of  that  time  was  spent  in 
residence  at  the  station.  Before  he  had  been  many 
days  on  the  spot,  he  saw  that  it  was  not  a  place  for 
permanent  settlement  and  progress.  A  long  journey 
was  soon  undertaken  to  the  north,  in  which  he  was 
accompanied  by  most  of  the  able-bodied  men  of  the 
tribe  and  by  their  chief.  The  result  of  their  journey 
was  to  put  an  end  to  any  hope  of  a  settlement  in 
that  quarter,  and  the  thoughts  of  Afrikaner  were 
drawn  eastward  across  the  Kalahari  to  the  country 
of  the  Bechwana,  with  whom  he  had  enjoyed  some 
friendly  intercourse.  The  missionary,  with  a  select 
party  on  horseback,  made  a  journey  in  that  direc- 
tion, reaching  Griqua  Town  and  Lattakoo.  On  his 
return  to  Afrikaner  he  found  that  Mr.  Ebner,  the 
only  other  missionary  in  Namaqualand  north  of  the 
Orange  River,  was  leaving  the  country,  so  that  he 
was  left  completely  alone.      In  the  intervals  of  his 


36  THE   CHIEF  AFRIKANER. 

long  absences  from  his  station  he  carried  on  such 
missionary  work  as  was  possible — conducting  a 
school,  and  raising  a  place  of  worship.  Towards 
the  end  of  the  year  he  saw  reason  to  visit  Cape 
Town  in  company  with  the  chief,  and  there  he  met 
Dr.  Philip  and  John  Campbell,  who  had  come  out 
as  a  deputation  from  the  Missionary  Society. 

It  will  not  be  necessary  to  go  into  much  detail 
ai:»out  Afrikaner.  His  history  is  told  by  Moffat 
himself  in  his  "  Labours  and  Scenes."  Suffice  to 
say  here,  that  he  was  a  man  who  had  escaped  from 
vassalage  in  the  Cape  Colony,  and  having  his  own 
family  as  a  nucleus,  with  a  following  of  other 
refugees  had  crossed  the  Orange  River,  and  es- 
tablished himself  in  what  is  known  as  Great  Nama- 
qualand.  Here  he  carried  on  for  years  a  system  of 
predatory  warfare.  His  enemies  were  twofold — the 
farmers  within  the  Colony,  and  the  Namaquas,  of  a 
race  kindred  to  his  own,  in  whose  country  he  had 
settled  as  an  unwelcome  intruder.  He  managed  to 
strike  terror  into  them  all,  and  to  make  himself  of  so 
much  importance  that  a  large  reward  was  offered  for 
his  head  by  the  Government  of  the  Cape  Colony. 

After  many  years  he  came  under  the  influence  of 
the  earlier  missionaries,  more  especially  of  Christian 
Albrecht,  a  man  of  more  than  ordinary  character 
and  apostolic  zeal ;  and  on  the  occasion  of  John 
Campbell's  first  visit  to  South  Africa,  negotiations 
were  commenced  which  ended  in  his  consenting  to 
receive  a  missionary.  A  Mr.  Ebner  was  at  once 
sent  to  take  up  the  work  until  the  promised  mis- 
sionary should  arrive  from  Europe,  and  he  would 
probably  have  remained  but  for  a  certain  want  of 


MOFFATS   HUT  AT   VREDEBURG.  37 

harmony  between  him  and  some  of  Afrikaner's 
people  ;  so  that  as  soon  as  he  saw  the  post  filled  he 
took  his  departure,  and  the  young  missionary  was 
left  quite  alone. 

Vredeburg,  as  it  was  called,  was  a  collection  of 
huts  in  a  small  valley,  bounded  by  bare  rocks  on 
either  side.  A  spring  rose  in  the  upper  part  of  the 
valley,  which  in  times  of  heavy  rain  —say  once  in 
two  or  three  years — swelled  into  a  flood,  filled  th<' 
river  bed,  and  covered  the  levels  on  either  side,  so 
that  the  people  had  for  a  few  days  to  move  their 
huts  nearer  to  the  rocks.  There  were  many  large 
mimosa  trees,  which  gave  a  pleasant  look  to  the 
place,  and  redeemed  it  from  the  utter  dreariness  of 
the  barren  plains  which  stretched  around  for  many 
miles. 

The  huts  in  which  the  people  lived  were  as 
movable  as  tents.  They  w^ere  formed  of  long- 
tapering  wands,  planted  in  a  circle,  then  bent  over 
and  tied  tosfether  so  as  to  form  a  caije,  and  on  this 
were  fastened  rush  mats,  packed  more  or  less 
thickly  according  to  the  means  of  the  owner,  and 
admitting  less  or  more  rain  accordingly.  As  rain 
fell  very  seldom,  and  as  in  that  country  to  get  wet 
was  a  mere  refreshing  novelty,  this  was  not  a  serious 
inconvenience.  The  dust  and  the  heat  were  the 
worst  plagues.  There  was  one  opening  large  enough 
to  crawl  in  at,  and  this  sufficed  for  door  and  window, 
and  for  that  matter  chimney  too,  when  a  fire  was 
lighted  within.  In  a  hut  of  this  kind  the  missionary 
lived  during  his  sojourn  with  Afrikaner.  His 
efforts  to  obtain  comfort  must '  have  met  with  but 
partial    success.       He    lived    principally   upon    milk 


3S    HIS  WORK  AMONG  AFRIKANER'S  PEOPLE. 

and  dried  meat,  until  latterly  he  was  able  to  raise  a 
little  grain  and  garden  stuff. 

For  the  best  part  of  a  year  he  did  not  see  the 
face  of  a  fellow  countryman,  or  hear  a  word  in  his 
mother  tongue.  Happily  he  was  in  entire  sympathy 
with  the  chief  and  his  brothers.  Not  only  could 
they  enjoy  the  mutual  confidence  of  fellow  Christians, 
but  a  strong  personal  friendship  sprang  up,  and 
from  the  first  Robert  Moffat  exerted  a  charm  over 
Christian  Afrikaner,  which  it  was  given  to  him  to 
exert  over  many  others  afterwards.  Even  Titus, 
I  he  brother  who  stood  out  against  the  gospel,  was 
amenable  to  his  personal  influence,  and  devoted  to 
his  interests. 

Moffat  went  to  work  earnestly,  and  soon  had  a 
flourishing  school.  Meanwhile  a  building  was  being 
raised  for  a  church  on  a  different  scale  from  that  of 
the  beehive  huts.  But  the  temporal  condition  of 
the  people  was  miserable,  and  there  never  could  be 
much  progress  in  civilization  or  industry  with  such 
surroundings.  The  missionary  and  the  -chief  were 
of  one  mind  in  the  conviction  that  no  lasting  settle- 
ment was  to  be  thought  of  in  that  part  of  the 
country.  The  scanty  spring  gave  water  enough  for 
the  irrigation  of  only  a  small  bit  of  ground,  which 
would  not  supply  food  for  one-fifth  of  the  few 
hundreds  of  people  belonging  to  Afrikaner,  and  yet 
it  was  the  only  spot  available  for  many  miles  around. 
So  in  June  we  find  them  starting  with  a  large 
following  of  the  able-bodied  men  to  explore  the 
country  northward,  in  search  of  something  better. 
This  journey  took  nearly  two  months,  and  ended  in 
nothing.     No  better  country  was  to  be  found  in  that 


JOURNEY   EASTWARD.  33 

direction,  so  far  as  thev  went,  without  enterinof  a 
region  where  the  hostlHty  of  other  Namaquas  might 
be  looked  for;  so  the  idea  was  abandoned.  In 
those  thinly  peopled  regions,  the  few  Bushmen  and 
scattered  Namaquas  whom  they  found  were  sunk 
into  a  brutish  degradation  which  stirred  the  heart  of 
the  young  missionary,  and  instead  of  repelling  rather 
quickened  his  zeal. 

Space  would  not  suffice  for  even  extracts  of  his 
journals,  but  the  following  letter  will  give  a  view  of 
this  part  of  his  life  : 

"  Vrijdeburg,  Dec.  15,  1818. 

"My  dear  Father  and  Mother, — I  feel  ashamed 
when  I  recollect  that  I  have  not  communicated  to  you  a 
single  syllable  since  the  eighth  of  April  last.  But  on  the 
other  hand,  when  I  call  to  mind  the  different  scenes 
through  which  I  have  passed  since  that  period,  and  how 
my  time  has  been  taken  up,  I  think  myself  almost  excus- 
able. In  the  month  of  June  I  commenced  a  long  journey 
to  the  northward  as  far  as  the  Fish  River,  accompanied  by 
the  chief  and  his  principal  people  ;  our  object  was  to  find  a 
more  suitable  place  to  form  an  institution,  but  after  enduring 
many  hardships  we  returned  after  two  months,  disappointed 
in  the  object  of  our  journey.  A  short  time  afterwards  I 
came  to  a  conclusion  to  undertake  a  journey  to  Griqua 
Town  to  see  a  place  which  the  Griquas  had  offered  to 
Afrikaner.  The  approach  of  the  warm  season  induced  me 
to  take  the  journey  immediately.  I  accordingly  departed 
on  the  second  of  September,  accompanied  by  four  of  my 
people  with  ten  horses.  We  travelled  along  the  Great 
River  and  crossed  it  twice.  I  preached  frequently  to  the 
tribes  of  Korannas  along  the  river.  We  suffered  much 
both  from  hunger  and  thirst,  having  taken  nothing  with 
us,  depending  entirely  upon  the  natives.  The  last  three 
days  previous  to  our  arrival  in  Griqua  Town,  one  of  the 
men  and  myself  suffered  extreme  hunger  and  thirst,  nearly 


40  HARDSHIPS   OF   TRAVELLING. 

three  days  without  victuals  and  nearly  two  without  water. 
This  was  on  account  of  three  of  my  people  having  un- 
expectedly stayed  behind,  and  been  unable  to  overtake  us  ; 
and  we  not  knowing  the  hindrance,  saw  it  most  proper  to 
go  forward,  being  then  in  the  midst  of  a  sand  desert  without 
water,  and  the  little  flesh  was  with  those  who  stayed  behind. 
You  may  well  conceive  what  effect  such  hardships  had 
upon  me  in  a  bodily  respect,  sleeping  behind  a  bush  on  the 
s.md,  eating  nothing  but  flesh,  and  that  so  hard  frequently 
that  we  must  beat  it  small  with  stones,  and  living  two  or 
three  days  on  a  little  milk.  But  I  stood  it  out  far  better 
than  my  companions,  for  I  had  always  to  encourage  both 
them  and  myself,  or  we  never  would  have  got  there. 
Through  Divine  help  we  all  arrived  at  Griqua  Town  on  the 
evening  of  the  eleventh.  The  brethren  and  sisters  received 
me  with  joy  and  affection,  and  supplied  me  with  everything 
needful  ;  and  I  may  say  with  Paul,  when  I  saw  them  I 
thanked  God  and  took  courage,  and  when  I  reflected  on  the 
difficulties  which  I  had  undergone,  I  adored  the  Hand  which 
Jiad  preserved  me  in  them,  and  I  more  than  ever  estimated 
the  value  of  providential  blessings  ;  but  above  all,  I  was 
cheered  with  this  one  recollection  that  it  is  for  Jesu's  sake 
•and  the  sake  of  the  heathen.  In  the  midst  of  these  hard- 
ships I  felt,  as  I  do  at  this  moment,  that  I  desire  to  suffer 
anything,  even  death  itself,  if  but  Christ  is  glorified  in  the 
salvation  of  the  poor  heathen.  During  my  stay  at  Griqua 
Town  I  preached  occasionally,  and  got  proper  information 
relating  to  the  situation  alluded  to — to  which  I  had  some 
■objections,  seeing  some  difficulties  in  the  way  in  a  political 
point  of  view. 

"  I  set  off  on  the  fifth  of  October  to  return  home,  and 
:after  experiencing  nearly  as  great  difficulties  as  before,  I 
reached  this  place  on  the  fifteenth.  My  little  flock  were  all 
out  of  patience,  and  were  ready  to  quarrel  with  me  for 
leaving  them.  They  assured  me  that  they  would  never 
■again  suffer  me  to  do  so.  On  my  arrival  I  found  a  letter 
from  Brother  Ebner,  informing  me  of  his  critical  situation, 
he  having  been  obliged  to  leave  the  Warm  Bath  station  on 
.account  of  the  broils  which  had  taken  place  between  the 


MULTIFARIOUS   OCCUPATION.  41 

people  themselves,  which  were  likely  to  end  in  a  war.  He 
begged  of  me  to  visit  him.  I  immediately  set  off,  and 
reached  him  the  same  day  on  the  north  side  of  the  Great 
River ;  he  was  then  on  the  point  of  crossing,  and  only 
waited  on  me.  I  did  all  that  I  could  to  dissuade  him  from  the 
idea  of  leaving  the  Namaqua  Mission,  but  all  my  entreaties 
were  vain,  for  he  seemed  determined  to  leave  Namaqualand 
entirely,  and  perhaps  resign  the  work  and  return  to  Europe. 
This  considerably  affected  me.  After  stopping  two  days 
I  left  him  ;  he  soon  crossed  the  river,  and  suffered  consider- 
able loss  of  cattle  on  account  of  the  strong  current. 

"  About  two  weeks  ago  the  two  parties,  viz.,  that  of 
Bondelzwartz  and  that  of  Magerman,  came  and  laid  the 
whole  of  the  case  before  me,  leaving  me  to  judge  betwixt 
them.  After  hearing  both  parties,  I  showed  each  how  far 
they  had  erred  from  common  justice,  and  how  Magerman's 
people  were  culpable,  which  they  acknowledged.  Both 
parties  were  perfectly  satisfied  with  the  judgment,  and  gave 
each  other  the  hand  as  a  token  of  peace,  promising  to  return 
the  guns  which  each  party  had  taken.  Ebner  is  gone,  and 
has  left  me  a  solitary  missionary  with  little  prospect  of 
having  help.  But  the  cause  is  the  Lord's,  and  how  can  we 
be  faint  or  weary  in  well-doing,  while  we  witness  immortal 
souls  dying  for  lack  of  knowledge.  I  have  many  difficulties 
to  encounter  being  alone.  No  one  can  do  anything  for  me 
in  my  household  affairs.  I  must  attend  to  everything, 
which  often  confuses  me,  and,  indeed,  hinders  me  in  my 
work,  for  I  could  wish  to  have  almost  nothing  to  do  but  to 
instruct  the  heathen,  both  spiritually  and  temporally.  Daily 
I  do  a  little  in  the  garden,  daily  I  am  doing  something 
for  the  people  in  mending  guns.  I  am  carpenter,  smith, 
cooper,  tailor,  shoemaker,  miller,  baker,  and  housekeeper — 
the  last  is  the  most  burdensome  of  any.  Indeed,  none  is 
burdensome  but  it.  An  old  Namaqua  woman  milks  my 
cows,  makes  a  fire  and  washes.  All  other  things  I  do 
myself,  though  I  seldom  prepare  anything  till  impelled  by 
hunger.  I  drink  plenty  of  milk,  and  often  eat  a  piece  of 
dry  flesh.  Lately  I  reaped  nearly  two  bolls  of  wheat  from 
two  hatfuls  which  I  sowed.     This  is  of  great  help  to  me.     I 


42      REASONS   FOR    VISITING  THE   CAPE. 

shall  soon  have  plenty  of  Indian  corn,  cabbage,  melons,  and 
potatoes.  Water  is  scarce.  I  have  sown  wheat  a  second 
time  on  trial.  I  live  chiefly  now  on  bread  and  milk.  To- 
day I  churned  about  three  Scotch  pints  of  milk,  from  which 
there  were  two  pounds  of  butter,  so  you  may  conceive  that 
the  milk  is  rich.  I  wish  many  times  my  mother  saw  me. 
My  house  is  always  pretty  clean,  but  oh  what  a  confusion 
there  is  always  among  my  linen.     I  have  no  patience. 

"  On  the  twenty-sixth  of  November  I  received  letters 
from  the  Cape  and  England,  of  a  very  interesting  nature. 
One  from  Miss  Smith  of  Dukinfield.  She  informed  me 
that  Mr.  Roby  saw  you  on  his  visit  to  Scotland,  and  that 
you  were  well  and  that  my  mother  was  in  good  spirits. 
This  was  very  agreeable  news  to  me  indeed,  for  I  often 
think  of  you  all,  and  feel  anxious  to  know  how  it  fares  with 
you.  In  a  former  letter  I  mentioned  something  respecting 
my  hope  of  being  united  to  Miss  S.,  but  her  last  two  letters 
have  been  completely  effectual  in  blasting  my  hopes.  She 
has  most  reluctantly  renounced  the  idea  of  ever  getting 
abroad,  her  father  determining  never  to  allow  her.  Of 
course  I  have  been  greatly  cast  down  of  late,  but  have  at 
the  same  time  been  enabled  to  love  and  confide  in  Him 
who  sticketh  closer  than  a  brother,  and  have  been  more 
than  ever  led  to  see  the  mutability  of  every  earthly 
comfort. 

"  I  must  now  inform  you  that  it  is  my  intention  shortly 
to  visit  the  Cape.  I  think  of  commencing  my  journey  in 
February.  I  have  requested  Afrikaner  to  accompany  me. 
He  immediately  consented,  and  is  now  making  prepara- 
tions. This  will  be  a  wonderful  event  to  hear  of,  Afrikaner 
accompanying  a  missionary  to  Cape  Town.  It  will  also  be 
very  acceptable  to  the  Governor,  as  he  has  often  requested 
him  to  come  that  some  sort  of  peace  might  be  established. 
For  particular  reasons  he  would  not  go,  nor  would  do 
now  were  it  not  that  he  esteems  and  puts  great  confidence 
in  me.  I  have  much  reason  to  believe  that  this  unexpected 
event  will  be  the  means  of  doing  much  good,  both  in  a 
political  and  an  ecclesiastical  point  of  view.  The  Govern- 
ment will  sec  the   fruits  of  our  labours,  and   be   convinced 


MOFFATS  HO:.IE   CIRCLE.  43 

that  \vc  are  inclccJ  mcsscn^:jcrs  of  pca:c  ;  but  )-ou  will  hear 
more  afterwards. 

"  I  am  also  excited  to  visit  the  Cape  by  hearing  that  my 
presence  will  be  acceptable  when  some  important  discus- 
sions will  take  place  relating  to  our  Missions, 

"  I  could  have  wished  to  communicate  my  journal  in  full  ; 
it  would  interest  you  in  the  winter  evenings,  and  I  may  do 
this.  I  long  to  hear  from  you.  I  have  now  been  nearly 
two  years  in  Africa,  and  only  received  one  letter  from  you, 
not  a  syllable  from  William,  nor  do  I  hear  an}'thing  of 
Alexander.  Write  me  fully,  and  forget  me  not  in  your 
approaches  to  the  throne  of  grace.  Remember  me  to  all 
my  friends  in  Edinburgh  and  elsewhere,  and  particularly  to 
Richard,  Helen,  Ann,  and  James.  Tell  them  all  that  I 
often  think  of  them  and  pray  for  them,  and  that  it  is  not 
likely  that  I  shall  see  them  any  more  till  we  shall  all  stand 
before  the  judgment  seat  of  Christ,  and  I  hope  finally  in 
the  presence  of  the  Lamb.  I  must  conclude,  desiring  to 
remain  your  affectionate  but  unworthy  son." 

We  can  form  but  a  faint  idea  of  the  feeling  with 
which  such  letters  as  this  would  be  received  and 
read  in  the  quiet  Scottish  home  at  Inverkeithing. 
They  continued  to  come  in  unfailing  succession 
through  more  than  fifty  years,  perhaps  sometimes 
not  oftener  than  once  in  the  twelvemonth,  but  never 
failing  to  come  at  last.  The  home  tie  was  never 
broken  or  allowed  to  die  away,  indeed  it  seemed 
to  grow  stronger  and  more  tender  as  the  years 
rolled  by. 

The  reader  will  understand  that  the  region  called 
Great  Namaqualand  lies  to  the  north  of  the  Orange 
River,  and  along  the  western  coast  of  the  continent. 
To  the  eastward  of  it  is  the  almost  rainless  and 
waterless  Kalahari  desert,  and  beyond  that,  still 
further  eastward,  the    Bechwana  country.     To  any- 


^jl  FIRST  ACQUAINTANCE   WITH  BECHIVANAS. 

one  coming  from  the  southward  the  first  Bechwana 
tribe  encountered  is  the  Bathiping,  who  were  then 
on  the  Kuruman  river.  The  missionaries  Read  and 
Hamilton  were  already  among  these  people.  Moffat 
held  already  seen,  and  had  been  favourably  im- 
pressed with,  some  Bechwanas  who,  travelling  for 
purposes  of  trade,  had  visited  Namaqualand.  They 
in  their  turn  were  importunate  for  him  to  accompany 
them  to  their  own  country,  which  was  a  few  miles  to 
the  westward  of  Lattakoo  as  it  was  then  called.  Of 
course  he  could  not  yield  to  their  entreaties.  On 
the  occasion  of  his  visit  to  Griqua  Town  above  re- 
lated, he  went  on  to  visit  the  missionaries  on  the 
Kuruman;  and  whilst  with  them  came  in  contact 
with  the  same  people,  who  hailed  him  as  an  old 
fiiend.  He  then  found  that  his  fame  had  preceded 
hmi,  and  that  he  had  already  gained  a  most  sur- 
prising ascendency  over  the  hearts  of  these  strangers. 
He  little  thought  even  then  that  among  these  very 
people  it  was  the  will  of  God  that  the  great  work  of 
iiis  life  was  to  be  done. 

The  letter  already  cited  had  a  postscript,  both 
long  and  important,  of  which  the  following  is  a 
part  : 

"  Cape  Town,  Aprii  i6,  1819. 
"  Dear  Father, — It  was  my  intention  when  I  wrote  this 
letter  to  have  sent  it  off  immediately,  but  the  overflowing 
of  the  Orange  River  completely  cut  off  all  communication. 
I  accordingly  kept  this  and  other  letters,  as  there  was  a 
probability  of  my  reaching  Cape  Town  before  them  should 
they  have  been  sent.  Although  the  Great  or  Orange  River 
was  nearly  full,  I  crossed  it  safely,  though  not  without  being 
exposed  to  imminent  danger  and  loss,  and  after  a  pros- 
perous journey  I  reached  this  place  about  four  days  ago. 
Afrikaner,  the  chief,  is  with  me,  and  every  one  is  pleased  to 


RELIGIOUS   ACTIVITY  AT    THE    CAPE.      45 

sec  him,  and  no  less  astonished  to  witness  the  effect  of 
Divine  grace  manifesting  itself  in  him  and  others  who  are 
with  me.  On  my  arrival  here  I  received  your  letter  of  the 
thirty-first  of  July,  18 18,  and  you  may  well  conceive  what 
my  feelings  were  in  recognizing  the  handwriting  of  my  dear 
brother  Alexander,  whom  I  never  expected  to  behold  again 
in  this  world,  and  may  not  even  as  it  is  ;  but  I  cannot  de- 
scribe my  joy  on  hearing  that  he  yet  lives,  not  in  a  far 
distant  land,  but  in  the  bosom  of  his  nearest  friends.  When 
I  think  on  this  my  soul  seems  winged  to  your  habitation 
and  mingling  in  your  converse. 

"  The  worthy  Mr.  Harvard,  Methodist  missionary  from 
Ceylon,  on  his  way  to  England,  goes  on  board  in  three 
hours,  and  promises  to  take  this  with  other  letters.  I  also 
send  with  him  some  African  curiosities  to  my  dear  friend 
Mr.  Roby.  I  have  just  received  letters  from  Miss  Smith. 
The  scene  is  changed.  I  have  now  abundant  reason  to 
believe  that  God  will  make  her  path  plain  to  Africa.  This' 
I  trust  will  be  soon,  for  a  missionary  in  this  country  with- 
out a  wife  is  like  a  boat  with  one  oar.  A  good  missionary's 
wife  can  be  as  useful  as  her  husband  in  the  Lord's  vine- 
yard. 

"  Dr.  Philip  and  Mr.  Campbell  are  preparing  for  their 
journey  into  the  interior,  and  have  earnestly  begged  of  me 
to  accompany  them  as  interpreter.  1  have  consented,  and 
we  will,  I  think,  proceed  in  a  few  weeks.  Of  late  in  this 
corner  of  hell  the  dry  bones  begin  to  shake,  apostolic  zeal 
begins  to  peep  out,  Government  is  favourable  to  missions 
and  to  the  cause  in  this  town,  and  we  confidently  look  for- 
ward to  a  harvest  of  souls.  Dr.  Philip  has  got  permission 
to  build  a  chapel ;  such  a  thing  was  never  known  before. 
Twice  every  Sabbath  Divine  service  is  held  at  the  Orphan 
Chamber,  when  Messrs.  Philip  and  Campbell  preach.  On 
the  Sabbath  a  prayer-meeting  is  held  in  this  house,  also  on 
the  Wednesday  evenings,  when  exhortations  are  given. 
The  two  directors  are  always  present.  There  are  many 
other  meetings  in  Dutch.  Brother  Evans  preaches  in  Dutch 
to-night  to  slaves,  and  I  have  to  engage  on  Sabbath. 
This  you  see  is  the  old  way  and  the  only  way  to  damp 


46  AFRIKANER'S  RECONCILIATION. 

Satan's  courage,  and  eventually   gain  victory.      Pray  for 
us  all. 

"  Remember  me  to  Mr.  Brown.  Tell  him,  after  all  that 
I  have  suffered,  I  am  not  tired  but  strengthened,  and  feel 
m\'sclf  more  a  missionary  than  I  ever  was  before  in  my 
life." 

This  visit  of  Afrikaner  to  the  Cape  was  an  event 
of  great  importance  in  more  ways  than  one.  In  a 
striking  and  concrete  manner  it  broug-ht  to  the  view 
of  those  who  had  authority  and  influence  the  fact 
that  missionaries,  instead  of  increasing  political  diffi- 
culties, may  often  help  to  solve  them.  Moreover 
the  strikingly  gentle  and  Christian  deportment  of 
Afrikaner  and  his  followers,  a  man  who  had  formerly 
been  known  as  a  public  terror,  greatly  encouraged 
those  who  were  holding  forth  the  power  of  the 
gospel  to  regenerate  the  most  unpromising  cha- 
racters. 

The  Governor  himself  was  personally  much  in- 
terested with  the  visitors  from  Namaqualand,  and 
when  Afrikaner  left  to  return  home  it  was  with  many 
good  wishes  and  substantial  proofs  of  esteem.  It 
was  a  curious  coincidence  that  the  hundred  pounds 
sterling  which  had  once  been  offered  for  his  head  as 
an  outlaw,  was  eventually  laid  out  by  the  Govern- 
ment in  offerings  of  goodwill  to  be  bestowed  upon 
himself. 

Afrikaner  took  a  tearful  farewell  of  his  friend,  but 
kept  the  hope  of  a  speedy  meeting  in  Bechwanaland, 
whither  it  had  been  determined  that  Moffat  should 
go.  That  meeting  took  place,  and  Afrikaner  again 
returned  to  Namaqualand,  with  a  view  to  arrange 
the  removal  of  his  litde  tribe  to  the  neighbourhood 


THE   NAMAQUALAND  MISSION.  47 

in  which  his  beloved  teacher  was  settling^.  It  was 
not  to  be.  Before  he  could  carry  out  his  plan,  he 
was  called  away  to  eternal  rest  ;  his  people  got 
divided,  and  lost  purpose  and  heart  for  an  under- 
taking which  required  a  measure  of  discipline  under 
a  strong  leader. 

"  At  last "  (says  Moffat  in  his  own  history)  "  our  Wes- 
leyan  brethren  nobly  extended  their  efforts  to  Namaqiia- 
land.  Their  labours  have  been  crowned  with  success,  and 
I  have  watched  their  onward  progress  with  as  much  interest 
as  though  I  had  been  one  of  their  number.  The  field  being 
thus  ably  occupied,  it  was  unnecessary  for  the  London 
Missionary  Society  to  send  others,  while  the  character  of 
the  country,  with  its  scanty  population,  and  the  cry  for 
missionaries  to  carry  on  the  work  in  more  important  fields, 
influenced  the  Directors  to  leave  that  section  of  the  mis- 
sionary world  to  our  Wesleyan  brethren." 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE    WIFE   OF  ROBERT  MOFFAT. 

1819. 

ARY  SMITH  was  born  in  the  year  1795,  a 
few  months  earHer  than  Robert  Moffat,  at 
New  Windsor,  which  now  forms  part  of 
Sa'ford.  Her  father  was  a  Scotchman,  originally 
from  Perthshire,  who  settled  in  England  and  married 
Mary  Gray,  of  York,  in  the  year  1792.  Mary  was 
their  eldest  child  and  only  daughter.  She  had  three 
brothers,  one  of  whom,  William,  died  at  a  compara- 
tively early  age.  Another,  John,  became  the  pastor 
of  a  church  near  Manchester,  but  afterwards  followed 
his  sister's  example  and  gave  himself  to  foreign 
missionary  work.  He  v/as  for  some  years  an  ardent 
and  faithful  labourer  at  Madras,  and  his  earthly 
career  was  brought  to  a  sudden  and  mysterious 
close  by  the  loss  with  all  hands  of  a  ship  in  which 
he  was  voyaging  off  the  coast  of  Hindostan.  The 
third  brother,  James,  alone  survived  his  sister,  and 
has  but  recently  died  in  the  United  States.  He 
has  left  children  and  grandchildren  who  happily 
have  imbibed  the  missionary  spirit,  and  are  entering 


Rudoiy  Blind,  del. 


PARENTAGE  AND  YOUTH  OF  MARY  SMITH.  49 

into  the  labours  of  those  who  have  set  them  an 
eminent  example. 

Both  James  Smith,  of  Dukinfield,  and  his  wife, 
were  persons  of  strong  piety,  in  which  they  stood 
upon  common  ground,  though  he  was  a  staunch 
Nonconformist,  and  she  an  adherent  of  the  Church 
of  England.  Their  daughter,  from  her  earliest 
years,  walked  in  their  steps.  Her  father  followed 
the  occupation  of  a  nursery  gardener,  in  which  he 
prospered  greatly,  and  at  one  time  promised  to  be  a 
wealthy  man.  By  the  foolishness  of  others  he  after- 
wards became  much  reduced  in  circumstances  after 
his  daughter's  departure  for  South  Africa.  He 
never  lost  the  respect  and  friendship  or  the  practical 
aid  and  sympathy  of  those  who  had  known  him  in 
more  prosperous  times,  and  valued  him  for  his  true 
worth  of  character. 

Mary  lived  at  Dukinfield  all  her  youth.  The  old 
house  is  still  standing,  but  the  extensive  nursery 
grounds  have  long  ago  been  built  over,  and  gone 
past  recognition.  She  went  to  the  Moravian  school 
at  Fairfield,  and  the  years  she  spent  there  must 
have  been  very  happy,  judging  from  the  way  in 
which  she  was  wont  to  dwell  upon  them  in  talking 
to  her  children  in  after  times. 

They  were  not  only  happy,  but  they  were  years 
full  of  sacred  influence  ;  and  at  Fairfield  was 
fostered  the  strong  sense  of  devotion  to  duty  as 
a  servant  of  the  Cross,  which  helped  to  carry  her 
through  toils  and  difficulties  of  no  ordinary  kind, 
and  made  her  a  helpmeet  indeed  to  her  husband. 
There  still  lives  a  lady  who  remembers  with  affec- 
tion her  life  at  Fairfield  with  Mary  Smith.     It  was 

5 


50         WITH   THE  CHURCH  AT  ASHTON. 

the  custom  for  each  of  the  younger  children  to  be 
placed  under  the  special  care  of  one  of  the  elder 
girls,  who  was  called  her  "  little  mother."  Mary 
was  "  little  mother  "  to  one  who  afterwards  became 
Mrs.  J.  S.  Buckley,  of  Ashton,  and  the  circumstance 
is  connected  with  happy  and  blessed  recollections. 
The  followine  extract  is  taken  from  the  Records  of 
Albion  Independent  Chapel,  Ashton-under-Lyne  : 

"  The  church  had  not  been  long  formed  when  one  of  its 
members  went  out  to  live  and  labour  among  the  heathen  in 
South  Africa.  In  1819,  Mary  Smith,  of  the  Dukinfield 
Nursery,  departed  for  the  Kuruman,  where  she  safely 
arrived,  and  was  married  to  the  Rev.  Robert  Moffat.  Mr. 
Moffat  was  an  occasional  worshipper  and  communicant 
"with  the  small  company  in  Refuge  Chapel,  with  which 
Miss  Smith  was  connected.  Her  father  was  an  old  In- 
dependent, and  was  one  of  the  fourteen  who  left  Providence 
Chapel.  One  who  saw  her  relates  that  when  service  was 
'Occasionally  held  in  a  carpenter's  shed  in  Cricket's  Lane, 
she  was  there,  ever  active  and  attentive  to  all.  She  often 
arranged  the  benches  and  other  furniture  of  the  place  in 
■order  to  reduce  the  discomfort  to  a  minimum  ;  found  the 
hymns  for  strangers,  and  invited  people  to  attend.  The 
missionary  spirit  which  was  in  her  then  has  rendered  her 
through  a  long,  laborious,  and  honourable  life,  the  worthy 
helpmeet  of  her  husband,  the  well-known  apostle  of  the 
Eechwanas." 

The  manner  in  which  she  became  acquainted  with 
her  future  husband  has  already  been  seen  ;  the  rest 
of  her  tale  will  be  largely  told  by  her  own  pen  in 
these  pages.  The  following  letter  was  addressed  by 
her  to  the  parents  of  Robert  Moffat,  and  will  explain 
itself: 

•'  Manchester,  Dec.  16,  1818. 
"  My  dear  Friends, — Doubtless  you  will  be  surprised 
'to  be  addressed  thus  by  an  entire  stranger:  but  though 


PARENTS  CONSENT  TO  PART  WITH  HER.    51 

personally  unknown,  you  are  dear  to  me  for  the  sake  of 
your  beloved  son  Robert.  If  you  have  received  a  letter 
from  him  lately  you  will  perhaps  know  in  what  relation  I 
stand  to  him  ;  but  as  I  think  it  very  probable  that  your 
letter  may  have  miscarried,  I  cannot  but  feel  deeply 
anxious  that  you  should  know  of  his  welfare.  I  received 
letters  from  him  about  ten  days  ago,  dated  April  and  Ma}-, 
18 18,  in  the  former  of  which  he  states  that  he  sent  by  the 
same  opportunity  a  letter  for  you  and  also  one  for  my  father, 
but  as  this  has  never  come  to  hand  I  fear  that  yours  also 
may  have  met  with  some  delay,  if  it  is  not  entirely  lost. 

"  It  is  not  only  the  probability  of  this  circumstance 
which  induces  me  to  write  to  you,  but  also  a  desire  to  com- 
municate to  you  that,  after  two  years  and  a  half  of  the 
most  painful  anxiety,  I  have,  through  the  tender  mercy  of 
God,  obtained  permission  of  my  dear  parents  to  proceed, 
some  time  next  spring,  to  join  your  dear  son  in  his  ardu- 
ous work.  This  is  what  I  by  no  means  expected  a  week 
ago  ;  but  God's  thoughts  are  not  as  our  thoughts.  When 
He  arises,  every  mountain  flows  down  at  His  presence.  He 
has  the  hearts  of  all  men  in  His  hands,  and  can  turn  them 
as  the  rivers  of  water.  So  He  has  done  with  regard  to  my 
parents.  Previous  to  the  arrival  of  these  last  letters,  my 
father  had  persisted  in  saying  that  I  should  never  have  his 
consent ;  my  dear  mother  has  uniformly  asserted  that  it 
would  break  her  heart  (as  I  have  no  sister,  and  she  is  far 
advanced  in  life) :  notwithstanding  all  this  they  both 
yesterday  calmly  resigned  me  into  the  hands  of  the  Lord, 
declaring  they  durst  no  longer  withhold  me. 

"The  idea  of  parting  for  ever  with  my  beloved  family 
appears  almost  too  much  for  myself.  Sometimes  I  think 
I  shall  never  get  launched  on  the  ocean  before  grief  weighs 
me  down  ;  but  such  are  my  convictions  of  duty,  that  I 
believe  were  I  to  remain  here  another  year,  it  would  then 
be  out  of  my  power  to  go,  for  I  must  sink  under  the 
weight  of  an  accusing  conscience,  when  I  consider  Robert's 
peculiarly  trying  situation  and  the  strong  affection  which 
he  seems  to  bear  to  me.  When  he  last  wrote  he  was 
exceedingly  well,  very  happy  in  his  work,  but  quite  alone. 


52  LETTER  TO  MOFFAT'S  PARENTS. 

seldom  sees  a  white  face.  The  people  are  nearly  all 
Namaquas,  are  very  kind  and  affectionate  to  him. 

"  He  was  about  to  take  a  journey  still  further  north  in 
search  of  a  better  situation.  The  chief  and  part  of  the 
people  were  going,  and  would  have  him  with  them.  I  have 
had  a  letter  from  a  gentleman  at  the  Cape  saying  that  he  was 
gone,  and  was  expected  to  return  the  latter  end  of  the  year. 
It  must  be  trying  to  parental  feelings  (as  well  as  mine)  to 
think  of  a  dear  child  being  alone  in  a  strange  land  and 
among  savages  ;  but  let  us  remember  that  Abraham's  God 
is  his  God,  that  the  Divine  promise  belongs  eminently  to 
him  and  his  companions  in  self-denial  :  '  Lo  1  I  am  with 
you  always,  even  unto  the  end  of  the  world.' 

"  He  speaks  of  enjoying  much  of  the  Divine  presence, 
and  while  exhibiting  the  truths  of  the  gospel  to  the  wild 
Namaquas,  he  feels  the  power  of  them  on  his  own  heart  in 
a  remarkable  degree.  I  am  sorry  my  father's  letter  is  lost, 
as  I  understand  it  was  much  more  descriptive  than  mir.e, 
his  thoughts  naturally  turning  to  our  personal  concerns 
when  writing  to  me." 

At  this  juncture  she  was  in  Manchester,  and  to 
this  circumstance  we  owe  another  letter  which  will 
show  her  strong  sense  of  duty,  and  at  the  same  time 
her  intense  affection  for  the  parents  between  whom 
and  herself  there  was  not  only  the  tie  of  natural 
relationship,  but  the  strong  bond  of  a  kindred  faith  : 

"■  Dccemher  i8,  1818. 

"  I  cannot  but  be  anxious  to  know  how  you  feel  by  this 
time.  I  hope  you  have  not  wished  to  recall  that  which 
you  have  resigned.  No,  I  trust  you  are  more  and  more 
convinced  of  the  propriety  of  the  act.  I  cannot  describe  to 
you  the  secret  pleasure  it  gave  me  to  see  both  you  and  my 
dear  father  give  me  up  in  such  a  Christian-like  manner.  I 
always  feared  that  if  you  did  give  me  up  it  would  be  by  a 
sort  of  compulsion,  but  when  I  viewed  you  with  calmness 
declare  that  you  saw  it  your  duty  and  could   no  longer 


LETTER  OF  CONSOLATION.  53 

withhold  froiii  the  work  of  the  Lord  whom  He  had  a  right 
to  demand,  I  could  not  but  exclaim,  '  Is  not  this  the 
finger  of  God  ? '  What  but'  a  Divine  power  could  have 
brought  your  spirits  to  what  was  so  contrary  thereto  ;  and 
I  trust  you  will  live  to  see  abundant  cause  to  rejoice  that 
you  were  ever  brought  to  do  it.  I  dare  venture  to  affirm 
that  you  will  not  be  losers  by  it.  You  must  ever  remember, 
my  dear  mother,  that  the  Lord  never  deprives  us  of  our 
comfort,  but  He  is  ever  ready  to  make  it  up  by  a  greater 
degree  of  His  own  Divine  consolations,  if  we  seek  these  at 
His  hands,  and  are  willing  to  have  the  space  filled  up  by 
Himself;  and  surely  you  would  be  willing  to  be  deprived 
of  an  earthly  comfort,  to  have  more  of  the  consolations  of 
the  Spirit  of  God.  For  my  own  part,  I  have  found  it  so 
much  the  more  to  be  valued,  that  sometimes  I  have  thought 
I  could  bear  to  be  stripped  of  every  earthly  comfort  if  I 
might  enjoy  the  Divine  presence  in  a  proportionate  degree 
for  everything,  as  I  have  under  troubles  of  late. 

"  You  will  be  well  aware  that  the  struggle  in  my  own 
breast  is  very  great ;  yes,  it  is  so  much  so,  that  I  dare  not 
reflect  closely  upon  it.  If  I  could  rest,  surely  I  should  be 
tempted  to  do  it  on  your  account.  But  no,  my  convictions 
of  duty  are  so  strong,  that  were  I  to  remain  at  home  I  should 
surely  sink  under  the  weight  of  an  accusing  conscience. 

"  When  I  went  home  last  week  it  was  with  the  intention 
of  exerting  myself  to  the  utmost ;  and  if  I  could  not 
prevail,  I  saw,  I  felt,  that  death  must  soon  put  an  end  to 
the  conflict.  But  the  battle  was  the  Lord's.  He  brought 
me  off  more  than  conqueror  by  His  own  almighty  arm. 
And  now  I  think  if  ever  I  do  land  on  Afric's  shore,  my 
soul  will  feel  more  sensibly  than  ever  her  obligations  to 
active  usefulness.  Such  a  singular  display  of  his  care  over 
me  as  I  have  had  lately,  surely  calls  loudly  for  active 
gratitude.  And,  O  mother  !  will  it  not  gladden  your  heart 
if  the  Lord  permit  me  to  enter  into  His  work  ?  I  say,  will 
it  not  gladden  your  heart  that  the  Lord  made  you  the 
mother  of  at  least  one  child  who  was  so  highly  honoured  as 
to  be  an  instrument  in  His  hands,  however  humble,  of 
doing  something  towards  the  conversion  of  the  heathen  ? 


54  LETTER  TO  MISS  LEES. 

O  mother !  were  I  a  mother,  I  should  esteem  it  the  s^^reatest 
honour  which  could  be  conferred  on  me  or  my  child.  I 
should  think  it  an  ample  compensation  for  all  the  self- 
denial  I  was  called  to  exercise. 

"  I  think  I  need  not  fear  that  you  doubt  my  natural 
affection,  by  thus  leaving  father  and  mother.  No,  surely 
my  dear  mother  knows  me  better  than  that  ;  she  is  well 
aware  of  the  pangs  that  my  feeble  nature  will  feel  when 
the  last  hour  arrives  :  surely  her  own  will  not  be  more 
violent ;  nothing  but  Divine  power  can  support  me  in  such 
an  hour.  Often  have  I  thought  that  it  would  be  too  mighty 
a  struggle  for  my  poor  tabernacle  to  stand  out,  but  I  have 
the  promise,  '  My  grace  is  sufficient  for  thee  ;  My  strength 
is  made  perfect  in  thy  weakness.'  " 

It  was  several  months  before  a  suitable  op- 
[>ortunity  to  the  Cape  occurred.  Passenger  ships 
(lid  not  go  at  regular  and  frequent  intervals  as  they 
do  now.  The  follow^ing  letter  was  written  to  her 
friend  Miss  Lees,  of  Manchester.  Such  unveilings 
of  the  heart  as  appear  in  this  and  in  the  previous 
letter  are  almost  too  sacred  for  the  public  eye,  but 
at  the  distance  of  more  than  sixty  years  it  is  hoped 
that  they  may  be  an  encouragement  to  some  who 
are  going  through  similar  experiences  now. 

"  DuKiNFiELD  Nursery,  May  i,  1819. 
"  I  sit  down  to  write  a  few  hasty  lines  to  you  this  morning. 
I  have  uniformly  made  my  complaints  to  you,  and  I  often 
used  to  wonder  when  my  complaining  days  would  be  over. 
I  often  used  to  think  of  a  maxim  of  my  old  friend  Mr. 
Bennett,  that  '  prayers  and  praises  are  sure  concomitants.' 
I  thought  surely  my  experience  differed  from  any  one 
else's,  for  I  groaned  year  after  year  for  particular  blessings, 
and  I  seemed  as  far  from  having  obtained  them  as  when  I 
first  began  to  pray.  These  reflections  had  never  been  so 
strong  before  as  when   I   heard  your  dear  pastor  preach 


A  CONVERTED  BROTHER.  55 

from  the  eighth  verse  of  the  iiinetj'-ninth  psalm.  The 
sermon  was  so  powerfully  applied  that  I  wept  the  whole  of 
the  time,  as  he  describeJ  the  various  workings  of  my  mind 
under  that  particular,  '  thou  answeredst  them,'  and  sent  me 
away  rejoicing  with  an  assurance  that  my  prayers  would 
yet  be  answered.  Shortly  after,  you  know  how  that  sweet 
sermon  of  Dr.  Jack's  affected  me,  '  Faithful  is  he  that 
promised;'  and  very  shortly  after  this  you  know  how 
wonderfully,  I  may  say  miraculously,  some  of  my  prayers 
were  answered.  This  encouraged  me  to  go  on,  and  that 
passage  was  as  powerfully  applied  as  any  ever  was  to  my 
mind,  '  Open  thy  mouth  wide,  and  I  will  fill  it.' 

"  I  had  still  large  requests  to  make ;  still  some  of  my  most 
anxious  desires  appeared  to  be  unnoticed.  But  I  did  not 
believe  they  were,  though  I  was  resigned  and  willing  to 
wait  the  Lord's  time.  Often  when  I  had  contemplated  the 
separation  from  my  family  have  I  groaned  in  spirit ;  often 
have  I  shed  tears  of  wormwood  and  of  gall  to  think  that, 
when  I  was  gone,  my  dear  parents  would  not  have  one 
child  to  sit  down  with  them  at  the  table  of  the  Lord  ;  that 
their  eyes  could  no  longer  beam  with  pleasure  on  one  of 
their  offspring  whom  they  had  any  reason  to  believe  the 
Lord  had  made  His  own.  Often  had  I  poured  out  my  soul 
to  God,  '  Oh  !  could  I  but  see  the  spiritual  life  of  one  of 
my  dear  brothers,  I  could  go  without  half  the  anxiety.'  And 
oh  !  my  dear  friend,  how  shall  I  tell  you  ?  Now  I  can 
depart  in  peace,  for  mine  eyes  have  seen  the  salvation  of 
God  for  my  dear  brother  John  (so  I  have  good  reason  to 
hope)  ;  yes,  my  tears,  and  sighs,  and  inward  breathings  are 
answered.  He  was  last  night  proposed  to  the  church.  He 
has  written  several  very  pleasing  letters  to  Mr.  Sutcliffe. 
Does  it  not  appear,  in  deed  and  of  a  truth,  that  we  are  now 
enjoying  the  smiles  ot  our  God  ;  does  it  not  appear  that 
He  approves  of  our  conduct,  and  if  He  takes  away  one 
child  He  gives  another?  You  know  what  it  is  to  rejoice 
over  a  brother  born  ;  but  in  proportion  to  the  peculiarity  of 
the  case  on  account  of  my  going,  and  the  length  of  time 
we  have  been  looking  with  deep  anxiety  to  this  event,  in 
proportion  our  joy  is  greater.     I  know  you  will  rejoice  with 


56  LETTER  TO  MRS.  GREAVES. 

me,  and  as  you  had  lon^^  heard  of  my  complaints,  you  shall 
hear  my  thanksgivintj." 

About  the  same  time  she  wrote  to  a  friend  in 
Sheffield,  Mrs.  Greaves  : 

"With  grateful  emotions  I  sit  down  to  acknowledge  the 
receipt  of  the  bountiful  present  which  )'ou  and  Mr.  Greaves 
have  made  me.  My  parents  and  I  have  just  now  been 
examining  them,  and  we  are  very  much  gratified  ;  the  whole 
of  them  appear  so  well  calculated  for  usefulness,  and  some 
of  them  such  beautiful  articles.  I  can  answer  for  Mr. 
Moffat's  gratitude  when  he  views  them  on  a  foreign  shore, 
if  such  a  time  should  come,  and  I  dare  venture  to  say  that 
benevolence  so  pure  will  not  be  forgotten  by  him  at  a  throne 
of  grace.  I  feel  unable  to  express  to  you  how  much  I  felt 
on  receiving  the  parcel,  and  reading  your  very  kind  letter. 
I  could  not  but  admire  the  love  which  you  and  your  dear 
partner  manifested  to  that  great  cause  which  the  Lord  has 
made  peculiarly  my  own,  and  which  now  lies  nearer  to  my 
heart  than  any  other.  I  could  not  but  reverence  the  humility 
which  induced  you  to  say  that  you  regretted  not  having 
had  the  privilege  of  my  company  at  Sheffield,  and  shrink 
into  the  dust  of  self-abasement  to  see  how  much  better  an 
opinion  you  had  formed  of  me  than  was  my  due,  and  which 
I  was  apprehensive,  had  you  had  a  more  intimate  acquaint- 
ance with  me,  would  have  been  in  some  degree  altered. 
As  for  my  qualifications  for  the  noble  employment  which  it 
appears  probable  is  to  devolve  upon  me,  I  am  daily  led  to 
see  more  and  more  of  my  own  weakness  and  insufficiency 
for  such  an  undertaking  ;  and  were  it  not  for  a  persuasion 
that  the  Lord  often  makes  use  of  the  meanest  instruments 
to  bring  about  important  designs,  and  declares  in  His  Word, 
'  Not  by  might,  nor  by  power,  but  by  my  Spirit,'  I  durst  in 
nowise  presume  to  venture.  But  having  (according  to  my 
own  internal  conviction  and  the  opinion  of  many  pious  and 
prudent  friends)  a  clear  and  loud  call  to  leave  my  native 
land  and  enter  into  this  arduous  work,  I  would  humbly 
follow  the  leading  of  His  providence,  counting  it  the  highest 


PROSPECT  OF  PARTING.  57 

honour  which  could  be  conferred  i:pon  me  in  this  vain 
world.  Yea,  hit;hly  favoured  indeed  of  God  shall  I  con- 
sider m\self  if  I  miL;ht  but  be  permitted  to  smooth  the 
rugged  path  of  one  of  those  dear  men  who  have  given 
up  all  for  His  sake,  so  that  throuc^h  my  feeble  aid  and 
assistance  he  may  give  himself  more  devotedly  to  the 
work. 

"  Sometimes,  indeed,  when  I  contemplate  the  la-^t  painful 
hour  when  I  must  bid  adieu  to  all  my  dear  friends,  m\' 
family,  but  above  all  my  dear  mother,  now  far  advanced  in 
years,  my  feeble  nature  faints,  my  tears  will  flow,  the  enemy 
of  my  soul  and  destroyer  of  my  peace  would  then  persuade 
me  that  it  cannot  be  my  duty  to  go  ;  but  these  vile  in- 
sinuations I  feel  assured  proceed  from  my  weak,  treacherous 
heart  and  the  father  of  lies,  who  had  too  long  inclined  me 
to  listen  to  these  things  by  the  transforming  himself  into 
an  angel  of  light  to  overcome. 

"Yes,  my  dear  Mrs.  G.,  through  the  goodness  of  God  I 
am  not  now  entirely  ignorant  of  his  devices.  He  knows 
my  weak  side,  and  as  he  has  been  foiled  in  every  other 
attempt  (though  no  praise  to  me)  he  often  assaults  me  in 
this  way  :  a  beloved  and  affectionate  mother,  bowing  under 
age  and  infirmity,  her  sick  and  dying  bed  are  often  pictured 
on  my  imagination  in  the  most  gloomy  colours,  and  the 
reflection  that  she  will  not  have  her  daughter  to  cheer  by 
kind  attention  those  gloomy  scenes,  overwhelms  me  with 
sorrow.  But  I  would  chase  away  my  tears  and  sighs,  bid 
every  anxious  thought  begone,  cheerfully  walk  in  the  thorny 
path  appointed  for  me,  and  in  humble  faith  commend  her 
and  my  dear  father  into  His  hands  who  can  and  will  be 
more  unto  them  than  ail  they  are  called  to  sacrifice.  Great 
condescension  has  been  cHsplayed  by  my  heavenly  Father 
to  make  my  path  plain.  For  two  years  and  a  half  I  have 
suffered  much  from  perplexity,  not  knowing  what  to  do, 
continually  harassed  with  a  fear  that  I  had  acted  sinfully 
in  suffering  Mr.  M.  to  go  alone,  as  he  declared  he  could 
not  reconcile  his  mind  to  taking  another;  and  from  various 
concurring  providences  I  feel  a  degree  of  assurance  that  I 
have  been  out  of  the  path  of  duty ;  at  the  same  time  the 


58  HER  DEPARTURE  DRAWS  NEAR. 

circumstance  of  my  not  going  with  him  appears  to  have 
been  overruled  for  good  by  Infinite  Wisdom. 

"As  to  my  health,  about  which  you  appear  tenderly 
solicitous,  it  is  the  opinion  of  a  medical  man  whom  I  have 
consulted  that  the  climate  will  agree  with  my  constitution. 
The  delicate  often  survive  the  strong  and  robust  in  that 
country  ;  but  this  I  would  leave  with  Him,  who  will  grant 
me  just  as  much  as  is  needful 

"  Now,  my  dear  Mrs.  G.,  I  must  draw  to  a  close.  I  must 
say  farewell.  Oh,  think  of  me  when  on  the  stormy  ocean, 
when  on  the  burning  sands  of  Africa,  and  when  you  think, 
oh  let  your  heart  be  lifted  up  to  Him  who  ruleth  all.  You 
have  promised  me  your  prayers,  and  I  most  earnestly  ask 
them  for  myself  and  my  dear  friend,  that  we  may  be  found 
faithful  and  diligent,  and  never  be  weary  in  the  work  of 
the  Lord." 


It  was  at  last  arranr];ed  for  Mary  Smith  to  sail  for 
the  Cape  under  the  care  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Beck,  a 
minister  of  the  Dutch  Church,  and  his  wife.  She 
bade  her  mother  a  life-long  farewell,  and,  accom- 
panied by  her  father,  made  the  journey  to  London 
by  coach.  There  were  the  customary  delays  in  the 
date  of  sailing,  days  grew  into  weeks ;  her  father, 
too,  had  to  return  home,  and  she  found  herself,  in  a 
manner,  alone  in  the  great  city,  but  at  the  same  time 
among  friends  in  the  best  sense  of  the  term.  Mr. 
Lewis,  the  pastor  of  Islington  Chapel,  and  his  wife 
did  their  best  to  cheer  the  young  girl,  and  their 
kindness  and  that  of  other  friends  in  Islinorton  ever 
remained  a  grateful  memory. 

The  many,  almost  daily,  letters  of  this  period  are 
not  for  a  public  memoir.  In  them  the  whole  tender- 
ness of  a  dutiful  childhood  and  youth  culminate,  and 
reveal  an  anguish  of  soul  and  a  conflict  of  faith  of 


ENTERTAINED  BY  THE  BOGUES.  59 

which   only  a  rare  nature  could  be  capable.     The 
following  short  note  is  characteristic  : 

"London,  Attgnsi  13,  1819. 
"  My  dear  Mother, — I  have  sent  you  a  small  token 
of  affection.  I  thought  it  would  be  better  calculated  to 
communicate  pleasure  and  comfort  to  your  heart  than  any 
article  of  dress.  As  for  having  my  portrait  taken,  I  cannot 
now,  as  my  father  is  leaving,  and  I  should  have  to  pay  for 
it  myself;  and  that  you  know  would  not  do.  Whatever  I 
possess  now  I  must  husband  well,  remembering  that  I  am 
now  supported  more  peculiarly  out  of  the  sacred  treasury. 
Oh  !  may  I  ever  keep  this  in  mind,  and  be  a  faithful 
steward.  O  my  dear  mother  !  do  be  happy,  as  you  value 
my  peace  of  mind,  the  honour  of  religion,  and  my  credit  in 
the  world.  Do  not  let  me  be  reflected  upon  for  want  of 
affection  to  the  best  of  mothers.  You  know  it  is  not  want 
of  affection.  Oh  !  do  not  allow  the  world  to  think  so. 
Let  us  prove  to  the  world  that  our  blessed  religion  has 
power  to  soothe  us  under  every  distress." 

It  was  not  till  the  twenty-fourth  of  August  that 
she  left  London,  and  then  only  to  go  to  Gosport  on 
her  way  to  Cowes,  where  the  passengers  were  to 
embark.  At  Gosport  she  was  the  guest  of  Dr.  and 
Mrs.  Bogue.  Nearly  a  fortnight  later  she  writes 
her  last  letter  from  English  ground. 

"  Cowes,  Isle  of  Wight,  September  7,  1819. 
**  My  dear  Parents, — Having  received  an  order  from 
Captain  Scott  to  go  on  board  to-day,  I  sit  down  to  address 
a  few  lines  to  you,  which  will  most  probably  be  concluded 
on  board  the  British  Colony.  My  feelings  are  very  solemn 
at  this  time,  but  calm.  I  anticipate  much  pleasure  in  the 
voyage.  We  have  plenty  of  good  books,  work  and  pleasant 
company.  I  begin  to  like  Mr.  Beck  very  much.  I  hope 
to  derive  much  advantage  from  his  society.  I  believe 
he  is  a  very  learned  man.      Mr.  White  and   family  have 


6o      A  COMMUNION  SUNDAY  AT  GOSPORT. 

increased  much  in  kindness  to  me,  and  I  have  not  felt  so 
awkward  of  late  as  I  did  at  first. 

"  Having  a  longing  dc  ;ire  to  spend  another  comfortable 
ordinance  Sabbath  with  friends  for  whom  I  felt  some 
peculiar  attachment,  I  proposed  to  Mr.  B.  to  go  to 
Gosport  if  the  wind  did  not  change.  He  readily  entered 
into  it,  and  accompanied  me  in  the  packet  on  Sabbath 
morning.  We  spent  a  happy  day,  heard  the  old  doctor 
preach  twice,  and  a  student  once.  I  sat  down  with  them 
and  attended  a  church  meeting.  The  doctor  and  his  lady 
and  daughter  all  gave  us  a  hearty  welcome.  We  stopped 
all  night  and  returned  yesterday, 

"  I  could  not  but  feel  a  melancholy  pleasure  in  reflecting 
both  on  Sabbath  afternoon  and  last  evening,  at  the  mis- 
sionary prayer-meeting  here,  that  my  own  dear  people  and 
family  were  engaged  in  the  same  way.  I  could  not  but 
hope  that  I  was  at  both  of  those  seasons  remembered  by 
some  of  them.  Oh  beg  my  friends  to  think  of  me  at  those 
times.  For  a  season  I  am  going  to  be  shut  out  from  these 
ordinances.  Oh  pray  that  the  God  of  ordinances  may  be 
with  me. 

"  Now,  my  dear  and  beloved  parents,  I  commend  you  to 
God,  believing  that  He  will  preserve  you  in  these  troublous 
times.  I  sometimes  think  you  will  be  shortly  coming  after 
me.  Do  not  be  anxious  about  me.  The  Lord  is  going 
with  me.  Do  not  be  long  before  you  write  to  me  at  the 
Cape — conceive  how  anxious  I  shall  be  to  hear;  and  be  sure 
to  send  good,  full  letters,  or  they  will  only  set  my  teeth 
on  edge.  The  wind  is  quite  unfavourable,  but  the  captain 
is  tired  out,  and  we  are  to  sail  at  twelve  to-day." 

"Gosport,  September  15,  1819. 
"My  dear  Madam, — After  having  had  your  lovely  and 
interesting  daughter  an  inmate  in  our  family,  and  enjoyed 
an  opportunity  of  developing  her  character  and  beholding 
her  unfeigned  and  exalted  piety  and  zeal,  I  cannot  but  feel 
deeply  for  you  and  Mr.  Smith,  on  being  called  to  part 
with  her  to  such  a  distance.  Great  must  have  been  the 
trial,  the  conflict  must  have  been  severe  ;  all  the  parental 


LETTER  TO  MISS  SMITH'S  PARENTS.      6i 

feelings  must  have  risen  up  in  direct  opposition  to  her 
plans  and  wishes.  The  sacrifice  you  have  made  of  them  is 
great,  but  not  too  great  for  Him  who  gave  up  Himself  for 
you.  '  The  best  child  is  not  too  good  for  God.'  He  gave 
her  to  you,  and  He  has  demanded  her  back  again,  and  He 
can  and  will  be  better  to  you  both  than  ten  such  daughters, 
lovely  and  excellent  as  she  is.  His  gracious  presence  can 
more  than  supply  hers,  and  if  He  withdraws  the  nether 
springs  He  can  make  the  upper  springs  to  overflow  and 
abound.  He  has  highly  honoured  you  in  giving  you  such 
a  daughter,  and  by  calling  her  to  fill  such  a  high  post  on 
earth   as   that  of  a   Christian   missionary,  the  highest  she 

could  fill 

"  While  with  us  Miss  Smith  was  in  excellent  health  and 
spirits,  looked  Avell  and  was  cheerful,  and  in  a  very  happy 
and  suitable  frame  of  mind.  She  sailed  last  Thursday,  and 
is,  we  suppose,  by  this  time  safely  across  the  Bay  of  Biscay, 
as  the  wind  has  been  favourable. 

"  Your  truly  sympathizing  friend, 

"  Charlotte  Bogue." 


CHAPTER  VII. 

ROBERT  MOFFAT  VISITS  THE  CAPE. 

1819. 

IN  the  year  18 16  the  Missions  in  South  Africa 
had  fallen  into  a  state  of  grievous  disorder. 
The  number  of  stations  was  large,  and  they 
were  scattered  far  apart.  Some  of  the  men  who 
had  been  sent  out  had  proved  themselves  unworthy 
of  their  trust,  and  had  not  maintained  even  an 
ordinary  standard  of  Christian  conduct.  On  the 
arrival  of  Robert  Moffat  and  his  colleagues  they 
Mere  astounded  to  find  themselves  associated  in  the 
service  of  the  Society  with  men  who  had  brought 
shame  on  the  very  name  of  Christian,  and  whose 
reputations  were  a  by-word  to  the  ungodly. 

A  correspondence  with  the  Directors  followed  on 
this  and  some  other  subjects.  They  were  slow  to 
open  their  eyes  to  the  unwelcome  truth,  and  were 
disposed  to  regard  the  representations  which  had 
been  made  to  them  as  the  result  of  prejudice  and 
discontent. 

They  were  the  more  predisposed  to  take  this 
view  of  the  case  because  the  missionaries  were  at 
the   same   time  pointing  out  another  of  their  diffi- 


DEPUTATION  FROM  THE  L.  M.  S.  63 

culties — the  smallness  of  their  stipends.  The 
Directors  seemed  unable  to  understand  why  men 
who  had  given  up  home  and  friends  for  the  sake 
of  preaching  the  gospel  to  the  heathen  should  be 
so  open  to  ordinary  human  weakness  as  to  find  it 
irksome,  if  not  difficult,  to  keep  up  a  position  of 
respectability  on  twenty-five  or  thirty  pounds  a 
year,  which  was  less  than  half  what  any  ordinary 
mechanic  could  earn  at  the  Cape.  Correspondence, 
as  is  often  the  case,  did  not  mend  the  matter  much. 
The  chasm  between  the  Directors  and  their  mis- 
sionaries grew  wider.  It  was  for  Robert  Moffat  a 
happy  circumstance  that  he  was  away  in  Namaqua- 
land,  too  far  off  to  take  an  active  part  in  the  strife 
which  led  to  three  of  the  colleagues  with  whom  he 
sympathized  retiring  from  the  service  of  the  Society. 
Happily,  too,  when  he  arrived  at  the  Cape  on  his 
return  from  Namaqualand  he  found  that  the  Directors 
were  sending  two  deputies — John  Campbell  of  Kings- 
land,  and  Dr.  Philip — to  inquire  into  these  matters, 
and  to  set  things  in  order.  This  measure  saved  the 
South  African  Mission.  The  Directors  had  made  a 
good  choice.  Mr.  Campbell's  work  was  temporary, 
but  Dr.  Philip  was  to  take  up  his  position  at  the 
Cape  as  the  Society's  agent  or  superintendent. 

It  would  be  difficult  to  measure  the  good  that 
has  resulted  from  the  work  of  Dr.  Philip.  Per- 
haps a  test  of  the  depth  and  reality  of  the  in- 
fluence he  exerted  is  to  be  found  in  the  fact  that 
for  many  years  he  was  the  best-hated  man  in  the 
Colony — hated,  thai"  is,  by  those  wlio  were  not  the 
friends  of  the  natives.  To  the  Cape  he  was  in  those 
days,  in  his  championship  of  justice  to  the  natives, 


64    RELATIONS  OF  MOFFAT  AND  DR.  PHILIP. 

very  much  what  Dr.  Colenso  was  later  on  in  Natal ; 
and  he  was  more  fortunate  than  the  latter  in  never 
having  handicapped  himself  with  excursions  into  the 
regions  of  Biblical  criticism.  He  united  a  clear  and 
scholarly  mind  with  a  will  as  firm  as  the  granite 
of  his  native  land,  and  he  fought  the  battle  of  the 
native  races  at  heavy  odds.  Now  that  the  tide  has 
turned,  and  that  there  is  a  strong  Colonial  party 
standing  where  Dr.  Philip  once  stood  all  but  alone 
but  for  a  few  trusty  friends,  some  men  may  have 
forgotten  what  he  did.  His  record  is  on  high,  and 
can  never  be  forgotten  there. 

The  members  of  the  Deputation  set  themselves  to 
remedy  the  evils  which  had  worked  so  much  havoc; 
and  Moffat  soon  saw  that  there  was  no  reason  for 
him  to  do  otherwise  than  to  continue  his  work  in 
connection  with  the  Society,  though,  as  he  says  in  a 
letter  to  his  parents  at  this  time,  "  My  determination 
was,  whether  I  continued  with  or  left  the  Society, 
to  return  to  the  heathen  beyond  the  limits  of  the 
Colony." 

Men  like  Philip  and  MofTat,  both  devoted  to  the 
service  of  their  Master,  could  not  be  very  far  away 
from  each  other  in  personal  brotherly  feeling.  The 
latter,  however,  had  a  stout  Nonconformist  objection 
to  the  principle  of  a  superintendency.  He  protested 
against  it  from  the  first  as  "  putting  Pope  into  new 
clothes."  It  was  well  that  the  remoteness  of  the 
Bechwana  Mission  practically  isolated  it  from  the 
range  of  the  doctor's  rdgime ;  and  after  his  retire- 
ment from  the  duties  of  his  office  in  old  age  no 
successor  was  appointed.  The  wisdom  of  this  is  an 
open  question. 


TRIALS   OF  FAITH.  65 

The  Deputation  was  already  in  Cape  Town  when 
Moffat  arrived  there  with  Afrikaner.  After  many 
conferences  with  him,  it  seemed  good  not  only  that 
his  services  should  be  transferred  to  the  Bechwan.i 
country,  but  that  he  should  accompany  Campbell 
and  Philip  on  a  journey  of  inspection  to  the  stations 
in  the  eastern  part  of  the  Colony  and  in  Kafirland. 
As  this  journey  involved  a  probable  absence  of 
about  twelve  months,  it  was  a  trial  of  faith  to  him. 
He  was  expecting  the  arrival  of  his  bride,  and  it 
seemed  hard  that  she  should  have  to  land  in  a 
strange  country  and  to  find  none  of  her  own  to 
welcome  her. 

"  On  these  accounts "  (he  says)  "  nothing  could  have 
excited  me  to  take  this  journey  but  a  sense  of  my  duty 
which  I  owe  to  Him  in  whose  service  I  am  engaged.  Dr. 
Philip  and  Mr.  Campbell  laid  before  me  the  valuable  aid 
my  service  would  render  them  on  their  important  tour.  I 
consider  this  a  sufficient  cause  to  take  up  my  cross  and  to 
follow  Jesus.  This  is  my  comfort,  that  the  Lord  is  her 
refuge,  and  she  will  find  numerous  affectionate  friends  in 
the  Cape  who  will  receive  her  with  open  arms.  During 
my  stay  in  the  Cape  I  enjoyed  the  longed-for  privilege  of 
hearing  a  few  Enghsh  sermons  from  Dr.  P.  and  Mr.  C. 
I  also  preached  occasionally  in  Dutch  both  to  Christians 
and  heathen — or  properly,  to  white  and  black." 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

ARRIVAL  OF  MAR  V  SMITH  AT  THE  CAPE. 
1819. 

THE  Deputation  had  a  prosperous  journey,  tra- 
velling, as  everybody  did  then,  in  ox  waggons, 
and  visiting  the  line  of  stations  which  lay  along 
through  the  eastern  districts  as  far  as  Bethelsdorp. 
Drastic  measures  were  adopted,  healthy  reforms 
effected,  and  the  Missions  were  put  upon  a  new 
footing.  At  Bethelsdorp  the  party  found  its  further 
.progress  effectually  barred.  War  with  the  Kafirs 
'had  broken  out,  and  there  was  no  way  to  visit 
Kaffraria.  This  was  a  providential  circumstance 
ifor  Moffat.  Dr.  Philip,  having  no  further  work  to 
keep  him  in  the  eastern  province,  returned  to  Cape 
Town,  taking  Moffat  with  him,  who  had  thus  the 
unspeakable  happiness  of  being  able  in  person  to 
v^^elcome  his  Mary  when  she  first  landed  on  the 
shores  of  Africa. 

"  Cape  Town,  Dec.  8,  1819. 

"  My  dear  Parents,— From  this  far-distant  land  I  sit 

down  this  morning  to  address  you,  being  informed  that  a 

vessel  is  to  sail  at  two  o'clock  to-day  for  England.     Before 

I  proceed,  however,  I  must  warn  you  not  to  expect  me  to 


HER   VOYAGE   OUT.  67 

write  an  interesting  letter,  as  the  change  of  scene  and  cir- 
cumstances which  has  burst  upon  me  renders  my  mind 
confused  and  agitated.  I  will  begin  by  bearing  testimony 
to  the  goodness  of  that  God  who  brought  me  out  from  my 
father's  house  to  this  land  of  heathen  darkness,  to  which 
my  e}^cs  and  my  heart  have  been  so  long  directed.  He 
has  granted  us  delightful  weather  all  thev^oyage,  and  made 
me  with   His  own  presence  unspeakably  calm  and  happy 

ever  since  I  embarked 

"  Thus  you  see  my  God  has  delivered  me  from  the  perils 
of  the  sea,  which  are  truly  great,  such  as  no  heart  can  con- 
ceive but  those  who  have  been  there.  I  have  enjoyed 
excellent  health  all  the  way,  excepting  my  headache,  which 
has  been  very  bad  for  the  last  two  months.  I  had  good 
spirits  all  the  time.  I  suppose  none  was  more  cheerful 
than  I.  Our  captain  kept  us  well,  but  I  cannot  say  we 
were  very  agreeable  company,  there  being  one  continued 
scene  of  jangling,  but  I  generally  managed  to  steer  pretty 
clear.  We  had  Divine  service  every  Sabbath  day,  when 
the  weather  would  permit,  in  the  cabin,  but  not  on  deck. 
The  captain  is  unfavourable  to  these  things.  Mr.  Beck 
paid  me  every  necessary  attention.  From  some  of  the 
passengers  I  received  the  most  respectful  attentions.  M}' 
fellow-passengers  pronounced  me  the  fittest  person  on 
board  to  go  into  the  interior — I  bore  everything  so  well 
both  mentally  and  bodily.  You  will  not,  my  dear  parents, 
suspect  me  of  want  of  affectionate  solicitude  about  }'ou 
when  I  tell  you  I  was  so  happy.  No,  surely  you  know  me 
better  ;  but  I  did  not  think  it  incompatible  with  that  cheer- 
fulness that  reigned  in  my  breast  sometimes  to  weep  and 
to  mourn  when  I  thought  of  you  and  each  of  my  dear 
brothers  (not  to  mention  my  numerous  friends  in  England). 
I  do  confess  that  often  during  the  silent  hours  of  darkness, 
when  the  angry  billows  beat  against  my  cabin  with  tre- 
mendous roar,  at  such  moments  I  turned  my  thoughts  to 
you  and  your  dear  dwelling.  Then  my  imagination  would 
rove  till  my  heart  sickened  and  floods  of  tears  drenched 
my  face.  There  is  something  inconceivably  cutting  in  the 
reflection  (to  nature)  that  for  many  years  at  least  there  is 


68       JOYFUL   MEETING  IN  CAPE    TOWN. 

an  ocean  between  us,  and  that  personal  intercourse  has 
ceased,  but  even  from  these  piercing  reflections  I  was 
enabled  to  derive  consolation.  It  was  for  the  cause  of  the 
Redeemer  I  had  forsaken  all.  This  I  accounted  my 
highest  honour,  and  it  was  this  consideration  that  enabled 
me  to  take  down  my  harp  from  the  willows  and  tune  it  to 
His  praise. 

"  Having  parted  from  you  all,  my  affection  felt  weaned 
from  the  world  ;  and  there  being  an  uncertainty  whether 
on  my  arrival  here  my  dear  friend  would  be  alive,  I  felt 
prepared  for  anything.  But  oh !  my  cup  of  happiness 
seems  almost  full  ;  here  I  have  found  him  all  that  my 
heart  could  desire,  except  his  being  almost  worn  out  with 
anxiety,  and  his  very  look  makes  my  heart  ache.  Our 
worthy  friend  Melville  met  me  on  board,  and  conducted 
me  to  his  house,  where  a  scene  took  place  such  as  I  never 
wish  to  experience  again.  We  have  received  each  other 
from  the  Lord,  and  are  happy 

"  Moffat  will  conclude  this  letter,  and  I  will  write  very 
soon  more  particularly  ;  my  time  is  now  expired,  and  I 
can  say  no  more.  But,  mother,  be  happy,  and  praise  God 
on  my  account." 

Robc7-t  Moffat  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  SniitJi  of  Ditkinfield. 

"  Dear  Father  and  Mother, — I  can  now  with  more 
reason  than  in  my  former  letter  address  you  with  the 
endearing  title  of  parents.  It  would  be  in  vain  for  me  to 
call  to  mind  the  different  scenes  through  which  I  have 
passed,  but  more  particularly  what  I  felt  when  the  sound 
of  your  beloved  daughter's  arrival  had  reached  me.  It  was 
to  me  nothing  less  than  life  from  the  dead.  My  prayers 
answered,  the  promises  which  had  long  been  my  refuge 
were  now  fulfilled.  My  prayers  in  that  respect  are  now 
turned  to  praise,  and  surely  never  in  my  life  has  the  hand 
of  God  been  so  singularly  manifested  for  good. 

"  Mary,  my  own  dear  Mary,  is  now  far  distant  from  a 
land  endeared  to  her,  being  the  place  which  gave  her  birth, 
and  which  still  contains  a  circle  o'i  friends  who  are  entwined 


MARRIAGE.  69 

round  her  heart  ;  but  more  especially  endeared  as  the  resi- 
dence of  you,  dearer  than  all  besides.  She  is  now  separated 
from  those  scenes  and  from  you,  but  let  this  comfort  you, 
that,  although  in  a  land  of  strangers,  she  is  under  the  care  of 
our  ever-present  God,  and  united  to  one  who  speaks  as  he 
feels  when  he  promises  to  be  father,  mother,  and  husband 
to  Mary,  and  will  never  forget  the  sacrifice  you  have  made 
in  committing  to  his  future  care  your  only  daughter. 

"  When  I  last  wrote  you,  from  Swellendam,  the  affairs 
of  the  mission  were  almost  buried  in  a  cloud  of  gloom, 
which  obliged  me  to  be  silent  on  that  subject ;  but  how  do 
I  rejoice  to  be  now  able  to  tell  you  -that  those  seasons  of 
sadness  are  in  a  great  measure  turned  into  joy.  The  gloom 
is  dispersed ;  but  ah  !  shall  I  tell  you  that  from  the  general 
wreck  a  few,  and  only  a  few,  have  survived  the  sad  cata- 
strophe. 

"  We  were  disappointed  in  our  intended  journey  into  the 
interior  from  the  state  of  the  Kafirs,  now  in  a  considerable 
measure  appeased.  Nothing  but  the  gospel  will  make  the 
Kafirs  good  neighbours.  We  were  no  farther  than  Theo- 
polis,  from  which  place  we  returned  direct  to  Cape  Town. 
The  Deputation  having  destined  me  to  superintend  the 
mission  at  Lattakoo,  and  having  empowered  me  to  set  to 
rights  the  affairs  of  our  missions  in  that  quarter,  Mr. 
Campbell  thou<iht  seriously  of  returning  to  England,  having 
done  all  that  was  essential  to  be  done  by  him  in  Africa ; 
but  the  whole  depended  on  the  early  arrival  of  Mary.  He 
is  now  completely  engaged,  and  I  have  some  reason  to 
think  that  he  will  accompany  us  to  Lattakoo,  for  he  is  now 
all  on  fire  about  going.  The  warm  season  is  approaching, 
but  I  intend  to  proceed  in  a  few  weeks  with  or  without  Mr. 
Campbell.  Dr.  Philip  will  remain  for  the  present  to  settle 
other  important  affairs." 

They  were  married  on  the  twenty-seventh  of 
December,  18 19,  in  St.  George's  Church.  Dr. 
Philip  took  the  place  of  the  absent  father ;  and  the 
Melvilles,  ever  ready  when  an  act  of  kindness  was 


70  CHEERFUL   COUNSELS. 

to  be  done,  opened  their  house  to  the  company. 
Writing  to  her  brother  John  a  few  days  later,  Mary 
Moffat  says : 

"  There  was  an  expression  in  my  father's  letter  which 
rather  grieved  rne  :  it  was  that  in  one  sense  I  was  dead  to 
them.  Now  I  think  they  ought  not  to  consider  me  so. 
Surely  it  ought  to  afford  consolation  that  I  am  now  united 
to  a  devoted  servant  of  God,  one  who  counts  not  his  life 
dear  to  himself  They  can  hear  of  me,  and  I  trust  that 
they  will  hear  that  I  am  of  some  little  use  in  the  world.  Is 
not  this  better,  to  be  a  succourer  of  those  who  are  labouring, 
than  to  lie  down  in  the  grave  without  having  done  anything 
towards  the  building  of  the  temple  .-*  I  trust  you  will  en- 
deavour to  remove  this  impression.  Cheer  their  hearts, 
and  never  indulge  any  melancholy  fears  respecting  me.  I 
can  assure  you  every  provision  is  made  for  my  comfort 
which  is  possible,  and  the  Deputation  afford  Moffat  every 
facility.  At  the  same  time,  I  wish  ever  to  be  reasonable 
in  my  expectations  and  cheerfully  to.  take  up  the  cross. 

"  I  find  missionaries  are  greatly  despised  here,  and  indeed 
it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  after  the  conduct  of  some,  but  I 
think  I  can  say — 

'  All  hail  reproach  !  and  welcome  shame  ! 
If  thou  remember  me.* 

Before  I  bid  adieu  to  home  with  all  its  delights,  I  calculated 
upon  a  life  of  hardships,  toil,  shame,  and  reproach,  and  now 
my  soul  can  bid  it  welcome  for  the  sake  of  Christ" 


CHAPTER  IX. 

JOURNEY  TO  LATTAKOO, 
1820. 

EARLY  in  the  year  1S20  the  missionary  party 
started  from  Cape  Town.  It  consisted  of 
John  Campbell  and  the  Moffats.  When 
once  they  had  left  the  fertile  vallies  and  lovely 
mountain  scenery  of  the  Breede  and  Hex  Rivers, 
they  had  to  traverse  a  comparatively  desolate  region 
for  some  hundreds  of  miles.  In  the  middle  of  this 
they  came  to  the  place  on  which  is  now  found  the 
village  of  Beaufort  West,  about  three  hundred  and 
fiftv  miles  from  Cape  Town.  Here  there  was  as 
yet  a  house  or  two  only.  I'he  newly  appointed 
magistrate  and  the  clergyman  of  the  Dutch  Re- 
formed Church  were  the  principal  inhabitants  :  the 
latter,  a  Mr.  Taylor,  one  of  Moffat's  late  colleagues. 
Passing  Beaufort  West,  they  in  the  course  of  a  day 
or  two  crossed  what  was  then  the  Colonial  boundary 
and  advanced  into  the  Bushman  country,  a  dreary 
waste  extending  to  the  southern  bank  of  the  Orange 
River.  Here,  after  seven  weeks  of  ox- waggon  travel- 
ling, they  found  themselves  about  six  hundred  miles 


72  THE   ORANGE   RIVER. 

from  Cape  Town.  This  journey  can  now  be  ac- 
complished by  railway  in  a  couple  of  days.  It  is 
impossible  to  describe  the  curious  sensations  which 
fill  the  minds  of  those  who  have  had  occasion  many 
times  to  make  this  journey  in  the  old  style,  when, 
for  the  first  time  seated  in  a  comfortable  railway 
carriage,  they  glide  over  plains  which  can  scarcely 
ever  be  anything  but  monotonous,  and  mark  hour 
by  hour  the  spots  which  used  to  be  the  night's 
bivouac  after  a  long  and  toilsome  day's  march  ;  for 
the  line  is  almost  identical  with  the  trade  and  mis- 
sionary route  of  the  old  days. 

The  travellers  crossed  the  Orange  River  without 
much  difficulty,  as  it  was  low.  This  was  its  normal 
condition.  Although  a  stream  of  a  thousand  miles 
in  length,  rising  not  very  far  from  the  shore  of  the 
Indian  Ocean,  and  crossing  the  continent  to  fall  into 
the  Atlantic,  it  is  for  the  most  part  shallow  enough 
to  be  fordable  for  the  greater  part  of  the  year. 
This  did  not  prevent  it  in  years  of  exceptional  rain- 
fall from  being  a  serious  obstacle  at  times,  as  will  be 
noticed  by  the  reader  who  follows  this  narrative. 
For  months  the  great  channel  would  show  a  narrow 
stream  brawling  over  a  small  part  of  the  broad  stony 
bed  ;  but  when  the  river  rose,  as  it  did  sometimes, 
suddenly,  a  muddy  fiood  would  fill  it  up  to  the  very 
top  of  the  steep  banks  twenty  or  thirty  feet  high, 
covering  even  great  willow-trees  growing  on  those 
banks,  and  sometimes  spreading  beyond  and  over 
the  adjacent  levels. 

Two  or  three  days'  north  of  the  river  lay  Griqua 
Town,  and  here  the  party  made  a  halt  for  a  time. 
Kuruman — or  Lattakoo,  as  it  was  first  called — was  a 


TRAVELLING   EXPERIENCES.  7^ 

hundred  miles  further.  The  missionaries  Hamilton 
and  Read  were  already  there,  but  had  scarcely 
established  their  footincr. 


"  Br.Ai'FoKT  Wkst,  Fr^>.  17,  1820. 
"  My  beloved  Parents, — Having  by  the  good  provi- 
dence of  God  been  brought  thus  far  on  our  journey,  been 
mercifully  preserved  from  all  dangers  in  this  wild  and 
barren  country,  and  enjoying  good  health,  I  feel  it  in- 
cumbent upon  me  to  write  by  every  opportunit)'.  conscious 
that  soon  my  opportunities  may  be  very  few  of  sending 
letters  to  the  Cape.  We  have  experienced  much  of  our 
Heavenly  Father's  love  while  traversing  the  barren  sand\- 
desert.  We  are  all  well,  and,  excepting  a  little  headache, 
my  health  is  extraordinary.  It  is  true  I  feel  a  little  feeble 
and  languid  in  the  very  heat  of  the  day,  but  am  not  sickl}- 
as  I  always  was  at  home  in  warm  weather.  I  never  was 
more  vigorous  than  I  am  now  in  the  cool  of  the  day  ;  and 
when  I  consider  the  manner  in  which  we  live,  just  eating 
and  sleeping  when  it  is  convenient,  I  am  truly  astonished. 
It  is  frequently  one  or  two  o'clock  when  we  outspan.  I 
like  waggon  travelling  better  than  I  expected.  It  is  not  so 
fatiguing.  I  have  had  none  of  those  hardships  which  1 
looked  for.  Our  table  is  generally  well  spread,  better  than 
we  shall  look  for  when  settled  as  poor  missionaries  ;  this  is 
partly  owing  to  Mr.  Campbell  being  with  us,  and  partly  to 
Moffat's  being  well  known  in  the  country,  and  receiving 
liberal  presents.  At  a  Mr.  De  Vo's's,  where  we  last  stopped 
a  few  days,  at  the  Hex  River,  we  experienced  the  most 
unmerited  kindness,  though  they  had  never  seen  one  of  our 
party  before.  I  never  met  with  so  much  hospitality  in  my 
life  as  I  have  witnessed  in  Africa,  though  the  Dutch  are 
considered  fond  of  saving.  We  have  met  with  many  of  the 
descendants  of  the  French  refugees.  They  originally  took 
refuge  in  one  of  the  deep  vallies  near  the  Paarl,  where,  as  a 
people,  they  still  reside  ;  the  name  of  the  place  is  Frans 
Hoek  ;  but,  as  might  be  expected,  they  are  now  a  little 
scattered.      What  I   have  seen    of  them    are   remarkably 


74  THE   GREAT  KARROO, 

nice  people,  and  retain  the  savour  of  the  gospel  amongst 
them. 

"  I  could  not  but  feel  a  reverential  regard  when  I  saw 
them,  on  remembering  that  their  forefathers  were  cruelly- 
persecuted  for  the  gospel's  sake. 

"  I  trust  you  will  have  received  a  letter  from  Robert, 
dated  the  31st  ultimo,  at  the  Hex  River.  Since  that  time 
we  have  been  in  a  perfect  desert  called  the  Karroo,  and  in 
the  last  ten  days  never  saw  but  one  house  till  last  night, 
about  two  hours'  ride  from  here.  For  eight  of  those  days 
we  have  been  on  the  banks  of  the  Gamka  River.  The 
principal  features  of  the  desert  through  which  we  have 
passed  are  its  mountains  and  rivers.  The  banks  of  the 
rivers  are  thick  with  the  long-thorned  mimosa,  which  is 
certainly  very  beautiful.  In  some  places  I  have  seen  the 
old  tree  fallen  with  age,  and  from  the  root  a  young  flourish- 
ing large  tree,  and  both  attached  to  each  other.  There  are 
few  other  things  except  succulent  plants,  and  everything  in 
the  desert,  except  the  mimosas,  has  a  blue  and  yellow 
sickly  hue  with  the  saltpetre.  We  have  scarcely  seen  any 
grass  for  a  fortnight.  Mr.  C.  remarked  that  we  had  need 
put  on  our  spectacles  to  look  for  a  blade  of  it.  The 
water  is  a  little  brack,  but  not  much.  The  roads  have  been 
very  good  indeed — in  many  parts  as  fine  as  any  turnpike- 
road  in  England.  It  is  a  very  public  road  ;  we  have  met 
with  a  great  number  of  waggons  from  Sneeuwberg  and  other 
parts  of  the  interior.  Amongst  others  we  met  poor 
Pienaar,  the  son  of  the  man  whom  Afrikaner  murdered. 
M.  told  him  that  he  was  restored  to  favour  and  had  been 
at  the  Cape,  but  he  said  very  little.  Meeting  with  so 
many  Boers  on  the  way  affords  a  fine  opportunity  of  dis- 
tributing tracts,  with  which  they  seemed  well  pleased,  for 
they  seldom  see  a  book,  except  their  old,  massy,  finely- 
gilt  family  Bibles,  kept  more  as  a  piece  of  furniture  than 
for  use.  I  think  I  never  saw  so  many  fine-looking  Bibles 
in  my  life  as  since  I  came  to  Africa.  They  seem  to  have  a 
particular  pride  in  them. 

"  Some  persons  thought  it  imprudent  of  us  to  travel  at 
this  season  of  the  year ;  but  from  all  we  see  and  hear,  wc 


WILD    ANIMALS.  75 

think  it  by  far  the  best,  notwithstanding-  the  heat,  for  the 
rivers  we  have  to  cross  are  at  present  chiefly  without  water, 
except  a  Httle  stream  the  same  as  your  river  in  summer  : 
but  the  beds  of  them  in  some  places  are  very  broad,  and 
we  might  have  to  stop  a  fortnight  together  on  the  banks 
till  the  water  was  gone,  and  then  the  ground  is  like  a 
quagmire. 

"  We  have  seen  no  beasts  of  prey,  though  we  have  been 
in  their  dominions.  M.  saw  the  footmarks  of  one  about 
a  mile  from  where  we  outspanned  one  day  ;  and  at 
the  farmhouse  we  saw  last  week  we  were  informed  that 
sixty  lions  had  been  killed  in  six  years  in  that  neighbour- 
hood. At  that  farm  we  saw  two  tame  ostriches,  which  to 
our  great  surprise  devoured  pebble-stones  like  bread.  It 
is  said  they  will  eat  iron  or  any  hard  substance.  I  have 
seen  these  huge,  uncomely-looking  birds  at  a  distance 
running  on  the  mountains,  and  have  often  walked  in  their 
footsteps. 

"  Thus  you  see  the  promises  have  been  fulfilled  in  our 
experience.  The  sun  has  not  smitten  us  by  day,  nor  the 
moon  by  night,  and  the  beasts  of  the  field  have  been  in 
league  with  us.  Our  God  has  been  our  sun  and  our  shield, 
and  the  shadow  of  a  great  rock  in  a  weary  land.  We  all 
enjoy  excellent  spirits,  and  all  our  company  is  cheerful  and 
pleasant,  and  everything  goes  on  well. 

"  W^e  have  got  two  men  and  betwixt  twenty  and  thirty 
oxen  from  Bcthelsdorp.  They  are  just  arrived  after  a 
month's  journey,  but  they  came  very  slowly.  The  oxen 
are  what  they  left  there  on  the  last  journey. 

"  The  place  where  we  now  are  is  the  newly-formed 
district  where  our  missionary  Taylor  has  accepted  of  a 
church — which,  by-the-bye,  is  only  a  room  in  a  farmhouse, 
with  two  beds  in  it.  I  have  been  in  many  odd-looking 
places  to  worship,  but  never  saw  one  like  that.  There  are 
only  about  six  houses  in  the  place,  and  the  Landdrost's 
is  one  of  them.  He  is  a  Scotchman,  a  Mr.  Baird.  He 
visited  our  tent  on  our  arrival  here,  and  courteously  invited 
us  to  his  house  to  eat,  which  we  have  done  now  for  four 
days.  We  go  to  every  meal,  and  then  return  to  the  waggons. 


75     INFANT  VILLAGE  OF   BEAUFORT  WEST. 

He  is  remarkably  friendly,  and  affords  every  facility  for 
[getting  what  we  vv-ant.  He  supplies  us  plentifully  with 
delicious  fruit  from  his  garden,  though  we  eat  it  three 
times  a  day  at  his  house.  He  speaks  well  of  Mr.  Taylor, 
and  says  that  a  minister  is  a  needful  auxiliary  to  the 
magistrate  here. 

"  He  showed  us  a  plan  of  the  intended  town.  It  is  a  fine 
fertile  spot,  bounded  on  one  side  by  the  Gamka,  and  on 
the  other  by  the  dry  river.  He  intends  to  bring  the  water 
down  the  main  street,  and  to  have  trees  planted  on  both 
sides.  They  are  going  to  build  a  shed  for  a  temporary 
church  until  they  get  the  other  built.  From  all  that  we 
can  see  and  hear,  it  appears  that  Mr.  Taylor  may  have 
great  opportunities  of  doing  good.  They  have  the  law  and 
the  prophets,  but  they  are  as  ignorant  as  the  heathen  them- 
selves. They  are  very  much  scattered.  Mr.  Taylor  is  now 
visiting  his  flock,  which  I  hear  will  be  a  month's  journey ; 
they  live  so  very  remote.  This  is  a  disappointment  to  our 
people,  as  they  expected  to  have  got  much  information 
from  him. 

"  Mr.  Anderson  is  well  spoken  of  here.  The  Landdrost 
is  sending  him  by  us  a  little  coffee  and  sugar  as  a  present. 
There  is  a  half-yearly  fair  established  here,  and  the  people 
at  Griqua  Town  bring  their  stuff  to  sell,  and  are  highly 
spoken  of.  We  leave  this  place  to-day  for  Griqua  Town, 
which  is  ten  days'  comfortable  journey  from  here,  good 
roads,  plenty  of  water  the  most  of  the  way,  and  a  fine 
moon,  which  is  valuable  to  African  travellers. 

"" "  Mary  Moffat." 

Though  on  their  way  to  Lattakoo,  it  was  by  no 
means  certain  that  they  would  be  allowed  to  remain 
there.  In  a  letter  to  his  parents  Robert  Moffat 
explains  this  : 

"  I  think  I  mentioned  in  my  former  letter  that  we  were 
preparing  to  go  and  reside  at  Lattakoo,  expecting  to  be 
accompanied  by  Mr.  Campbell.  It  pleased  the  Lord,  how- 
ever, at  first  to  allow  these  our  expectations  to  be  baffled, 


OBSTRUCTIVE  POLICY  OF   GOVERNMENT,     yj 

for  when  we  were  almost  ready  to  set  off  the  Colonial 
Gov^ernment  sent  a  negative  to  a  memorial  on  the  subject. 
Their  political,  though  very  inapplicable  views,  served  them 
as  a  sufficient  reason  to  hinder  me.  I  may  here  remark 
that  the  Governor  has  been  for  this  some  time  imperious 
on  me  to  become  their  missionary,  and  proceed  to  Kafir- 
land,  and  had  I  consented  to  this  they  would  have  jumped 
at  me  ;  but  because  I  would  not  agree  to  their  proposal 
for  conscience'  sake,  however  encouraging  their  offers 
were,  they  seemed  to  make  a  necessity  of  my  accepting  it 
by  barring  my  prospects.  This  threw  us  into  a  little  con- 
fusion, for  Mr.  Campbell  was  determined  to  go,  and  that 
was  deemed  by  others  both  imprudent  and  impracticable 
without  I  were  to  go  with  him  ;  and  to  undertake  such  a 
long  journey  in  the  heat  of  the  season  without  a  hope  of 
remaining  appeared  to  have  its  difficulties,  considering  my 
situation.  We,  however  (I  trust  divinely  directed;,  have 
come  to  a  conclusion  that  I  should  accompany  Mr,  Camp- 
bell in  the  place  of  Dr.  Philip,  who  should  remain  at  the 
Cape  to  set  to  right  other  important  affairs  relating  to  the 
missions  with  the  Government.  Of  course,  prudence  and 
advice  dictated  to  me  the  propriety  of  taking  Mrs.  Moffat 
with  me  on  the  journey.  In  many  respects  it  was  prefer- 
able to  her  remaining  in  Cape  Town,  it  being  much 
healthier  in  the  country,  and  there  is  after  all,  I  may  say, 
a  probability  of  our  remaining  at  Lattakoo.  We  accord- 
ingly left  the  Cape  about  a  month  ago,  and  travelled  by 
Stellenbosch,  the  Paarl,  and  Tulbagh,  We  are  now  near 
the  limits  of  the  Colony  opposite  to  Griqua  Town.  It 
has  been  very  warm,  the  thermometer  as  high  as  g6^  in 
the  shade  ;  this  and  a  constant  sunshine  tans  us  all  like 
gipsies. 

"  It  is  astonishing  that  you  are  at  this  time  shivering  in 
the  beams  of  the  same  sun  which  drives  us  to  take  refuge 
to  the  shadow  of  a  rock  or  bush.  We  have  had  a  tolerable 
supply  of  water,  though  we  have  travelled  through  a  countr\- 
the  most  desert.  I  am  happy  to  say  that  Mary  stands  the 
journey  amazingly  well  ;  she  takes  everything  as  she  find  > 
it  and  encounters  with  ease  what  you   would   term  difli- 


78        ENCOURAGEMENTS   BY  THE    WAY, 

culties.  She  has  several  times  asserted  that  she  never 
enjoyed  better  health  than  she  has  done  since  she  came  to 
Africa.  Nay,  I  am  sometimes  astonished  to  see  her 
possessed  of  such  ijood  spirits  at  times  when  human  nature 
is  spent,  for  we  have  our  hardships. 

"  Mr.  Baird's  kindness  is  astonishing.  As  we  are  com- 
plete strangers  to  this  part  of  the  country,  he  has  provided 
us  with  two  guides,  who  will  cross  the  Bushman  country 
with  us.  We  intend  to  depart  to-day.  And  what  is  very 
wonderful,  a  few  people  have  arrived  from  Bethelsdorp 
whom  we  sent  for  previous  to  our  leaving  the  Cape.  Had 
they  been  a  day  later  we  should  have  been  gone.  All 
things  seem  to  work  together  for  the  furtherance  of  the 
journey." 


CHAPTER    X. 

SOJOURN  AT  GRIQUA   TOWN, 
1820. 

THE  IMoffats  had  gone  thus  far  in  uncertainty 
about  their  real  position.  The  Governor  had 
as  yet  withheld  his  assent  to  their  settling 
at  Lattakoo.  They  walked  by  faith.  In  a  few 
weeks  they  continued  their  journey  from  Griqua 
Town  with  John  Campbell.  It  was  intended  that 
Robert  Moffat  should  take  the  place  of  James 
Read,  who  was  to  return  to  one  of  the  Colonial 
stations.  On  their  arrival  at  Lattakoo  John  Camp- 
bell went  on  to  the  north-east  to  visit  the  Bahurutse. 
a  tribe  two  hundred  miles  distant,  about  whom  much 
had  been  heard  in  consequence  of  their  friendly 
relations  with  the  Batlaping.  He  took  with  him 
Read,  leaving  the  Moffats  at  Lattakoo  to  make  the 
acquaintance  of  the  people  there.  This  journey  to 
the  Bahurutse  country  was  really  a  surprising  feat  at 
the  time.  Campbell  was  a  man  with  little  physical 
endowment  for  playing  the  part  of  a  pioneer  ex- 
plorer ;  but  he  was  a  simple  and  heroic  soul,  who 
went   straight  on  wherever   he   saw    dut)-,   and  left 


8o    CAMPBELUS  VISITS  TO  VARIOUS  TRIBES. 

all  troublesome  questions  to  be  settled  by  the  Master 
he  served. 

He  returned  from  the  Bahurutse  with  a  determina- 
tion to  press  their  claims  for  the  early  planting  of  a 
mission  among  them,  and  this  object  was  kept  in  view 
until  the  convulsions  of  a  few  years  later  drove  this 
and  much  else  out  of  reach.  The  Bahurutse  still 
exist  as  a  tribe,  though  in  vassalage  lo  the  Transvaal 
Boers,  and  their  spiritual  wants  are  ministered  to  by 
worthy  men  of  a  German  Missionary  Society. 

When  Campbell  got  back  to  Kuruman,  he  and  the 
Moffats  made  an  excursion  westward  to  the  scattered 
villages  of  the  Badaro.  another  Bechwana  tribe,  an 
offshoot  of  the  Bahurutse.  They  had  found  their 
way  down  to  the  neighbourhood  of  the  Batlaping, 
and  were  living  on  the  border  of  the  Kalahari  desert. 
These  were  the  people  with  whom  Moffat  had  some 
slight  intercourse  before  he  left  Namaqualand. 
Returning  from»  the  Batlaro,  the  unwelcome  news 
reached  them  from  the  Cape  that  the  desired  per- 
mission had  not  been  obtained  ;  and  as  Mr.  Campbell 
had  now  done  all  that  he  had  to  do,  and  was  leaving, 
there  was  no  alternative  but  for  the  Moffats  to  turn 
their  steps  southwards,  w^hich  they  did  with  heavy 
hearts.  Read's  transfer  to  the  Cape  Colony  was 
still  to  be  carried  out,  so  that  Hamilton,  not  for  the 
first  or  the  last  time,  was  left  alone  at  Lattakoo. 
At  Griqua  Town  a  fresh  message  from  the  Colony 
met  the  travellers  ;  the  Government  had  yielded,  and 
the  way  was  now  open  to  the  Moffats  to  carry  out 
their  dearest  wish. 


HOPES   FULFILLED.  8i 

"  Lattakoo,  South  Africa,  April  B,  1820. 

"My  beloved  Father  and  Mother, — Now  that  I 
am  here,  and  when  I  look  back  to  the  day  on  which  I  left 
my  father's  house  in  full  confidence  that  my  heaven  1\- 
Father  would  go  with  me,  I  am  astonished.  I  was  only 
seven  months  'twixt  Dukinfield  and  Lattakoo,  and  never 
met  with  one  disaster.  What  reason  have  you  and  we  to 
adore  that  God  who  has  heard  our  prayers,  and  has  gone 
before  me  and  made  all  things  pleasant  and  comfortable. 
Yes,  my  dear  parents,  and  in  addition  to  all  other  favours, 
He  has  brought  me  to  that  place  which,  of  all  others  in  the 
world,  was  first  fixed  upon  my  heart  as  a  place  and  a  people 
amongst  whom  I  should  love  to  dwell  and  lend  a  helping 
hand  to  the  work,  nearly  six  years  ago,  when  hearing  our 
friend  Mr.  Campbell  in  Manchester.  It  was  then  I  first 
dared,  with  tears  in  my  eyes  and  an  overflowing  heart,  to 
breathe  the  petition — Oh,  that  I  might  spend  m}'  days  at 
Lattakoo  !  This  doubtless  was  noticed  by  a  heart-searching 
God,  and  so  here  am  L  I  cannot  tell  you  what  I  felt  on 
approaching  the  spot,  when  I  took  a  retrospect  of  all  that 
had  passed  to  bring  me  here.  I  could  not  but  exclaim,  Is 
not  this  the  finger  of  God  }  You  can  hardly  conceive  how 
I  feel  when  I  sit  in  the  house  of  God,  surrounded  with  the 
natives  ;  though  my  situation  may  be  despicable  and  mean 
indeed  in  the  eyes  of  the  world,  I  feel  an  honour  conferred 
upon  me  which  the  highest  of  the  kings  of  the  earth  could 
not  have  done  me  ;  and  add  to  this  seeing  my  dear  husband 
panting  for  the  salvation  of  the  people  with  unabated 
ardour,  firmly  resolving  to  direct  every  talent  which  God 
has  given  him  to  their  good  and  His  glory.  I  am  happy, 
remarkably  happy,  though  the  present  place  of  my  habita- 
tion is  a  single  vestry-room,  with  a  mud  wall  and  a  mud 
floor.  It  is  true  our  sorrows  and  cares  we  must  have,  and, 
in  a  degree,  have  them  now  from  existing  circumstances  at 
the  station  ;  but  is  it  not  our  happiness  to  sufier  in  this 
cause?  It  is  one  of  the  trials  of  missionaries  to  bear  such 
long  silences  from  their  friends.  Poor  Mrs.  Helm  has  not 
had  a  letter  for  five  years !  I  long  to  hear  from  you,  to 
know  how  you  all   are,  but  do  not  expect  till  the  people 

7 


82  THE  KURUMAN  FOUNTAIN. 

return  from  the  fair  at  Beaufort,  which  will  be  the  latter 
end  of  May.  Many  Bootsuanas,  as  well  as  Griqua'^.  are 
gone  this  time.  I  hope  you  are  perfectly  easy  about  me, 
and  do  not  consider  me  dead  or  lost.  I  wrote  to  you  from 
Beaufort.  We  arrived  at  Griqua  Town  on  the  13th  of 
March.  I  did  not  find  things  there  quite  as  good  as  ex- 
pectation, but  must  say  great  things  have  been  done.  The 
indolence  of  the  people  is  a  formidable  obstacle  in  the  Avay 
of  civilization.  There  are  some,  however,  who  do  well,  and 
some  of  the  places  belonging  to  the  rich  captains  assume 
the  appearance  of  English  farms.  Decent  houses, a  waggon 
before  the  door,  plenty  of  oxen,  poultry,  dogs,  &c.,  about, 
and  good  cultivated  ground,  and  very  respectably  clothed  ; 
they  make  good  appearance  at  the  church,  which  is  often 
full,  and  it  is  about  the  size  of  the  old  preaching-room  at 
Salford. 

"  I  forgot  to  say  how  we  got  over  the  Orange  River.  It 
was  but  very  low,  and  all  our  waggons  were  over  in  half  an 
hour.  This  will  appear  to  you  a  happy  circumstance,  when 
I  tell  you  that  at  the  same  time  last  year  Mrs.  Hamilton 
was  nine  weeks  waiting  on  the  other  side,  and  one  week  in 
the  act  of  getting  ovei  with  one  waggon  !  Some  parts  of 
this  time  the  rain  was  descending  in  such  torrents  that  she 
could  not  tell  whether  the  waggon  was  in  the  river  or  out  of 
it.  It  is  a  majestic  stream,  and  on  the  banks  are  woods  of 
the  mimosa  and  a  species  of  willow.  There  is  a  greater 
variety  of  greens  than  I  have  seen  since  I  came  to  Africa, 
and  much  more  pleasing  to  the  eye.  We  travelled  along 
the  banks  three  days  before  we  crossed.  We  were  met 
with  oxen  and  men  from  Griqua  Town,  they  having  heard 
of  our  approach.  After  spending  a  week  there,  we  pro- 
ceeded to  this  place,  four  long  days'  journey.  I  do  not 
recollect  being  so  fatigued  since  I  left  the  Cape.  We  were 
obliged  to  make  long  stages  on  account  of  there  being  no 
water  between.  The  last  outspan  place  was  the  source  of 
the  Kuruman  River.  It  is  a  vast  rock,  which  appears  to 
have  been  terribly  convulsed  some  time  or  other,  forming 
curious  caves,  and  on  every  side  the  most  beautiful  water 
■that  ever  I  saw  (except  at  Greenfield)  gushing  out.     I  went 


THE   NEIGHBOURHOOD  OF  KURUMAN.      ^j 

into  the  principal  cave  that  is  accessible,  and  went  near!)- 
knee-deep  in  water  as  clear  as  cr\'stal.  The  top  of  the 
cave  was  lined  with  bats,  and  in  some  directions  we  heard 
waters  rushing  like  a  torrent.  The  sound  came  along  the 
subterraneous  passages.  I  should  have  imagined  that  a 
mighty  river  would  have  flowed  from  such  a  spring,  but  it 
is  very  small.  The  country  between  Griqua  Town  and 
here  abounds  in  fine-looking  grass,  but  not  good  ;  in  lew 
mountains,  but  few  trees. 

"  On  our  entrance  to  this  place  I  was  pleased.  I  thought 
the  landscape  resembled  that  of  England,  the  cornfields 
and  gardens  being  very  pleasing,  and  here  and  there  trees 
scattered  ;  trees  are  not  seen  in  general  in  Africa,  except 
on  the  banks  of  the  rivers.  I  have  not  yet  seen  a  wood 
equal  to  the  one  above  the  Nursery. 

"  I  think  there  is  already  timber  there  superior  to  any  I 
have  seen  in  the  uncultivated  parts  of  Africa.  Upon  the 
whole,  as  a  country,  I  am  greatly  disappointed.  It  is  m}' 
opinion  that  the  new  settlers  will  be  deceived  if  they  expect 
a  fat  land.  Were  I  choosing  a  country,  either  for  a  com- 
fortable livelihood  or  pleasure,  it  should  be  old  England 
still.  The  extreme  scarcity  of  water,  and  in  many  parts 
firewood,  render  people's  comfort  very  precarious.  If  the 
periodical  rains  fail  they  sometimes  reap  less  than  the\- 
sow.  In  this  part  everything  that  is  sown  must  be  greatl}- 
assisted  with  water,  or  it  would  do  no  good  at  all.  The 
cattle  are  sent  to  different  outposts  where  there  is  water. 
The  source  of  the  Kuruman  is  the  principal  place,  and 
there  they  are  subject  to  the  depredations  of  the  Bushmen, 
who  are  very  daring  indeed.  The  cattle  are  watched  b}- 
Bootsuanas  and  some  who  are  half  Bushmen  through  inter- 
marrying, but,  notwithstanding  this,  a  large  number  of  the 
cattle  are  carried  off. 

"  It  is  really  a  pity  that  no  hold  can  be  laid  on  these 
men.  They  do  deserve  punishment,  but  that  the  innocent 
should  perish  with  the  guilty  is  hard.  The  Bootsuanas 
have,  since  the  missionaries  came,  renounced  the  practice 
of  going  against  other  people  unprovoked.  They  only 
plead  now  that  they  defend  themselves,  and  to  this  no  one 


84  STATE    OF    THE    MISSION. 

can  object ;  it  certainly  is  a  great  attainment  to  bring  them 
to  this,  as  all  the  nations  beyond  partly  live  by  robbing 
each  other.  This,  however,  makes  them  very  exacting 
from  us,  as  they  have  done  it  by  our  advice. 

"  There  are  no  appearances  of  real  piety  among  this 
people  but  in  one  woman  who  is  blind  ;  she  is  in  church 
fellowship.  The  attendance  is  irregular.  Sometimes  the 
church  looks  well  with  numbers  of  them,  and  sometimes 
the  benches  are  nearly  empty.  They  seem  to  think  they 
do  us  a  favour  by  coming.  The  school  is  miserable.  There 
is  no  girls'  school,  and  I  almost  doubt  the  practicability  of 
it,  as  the  women  here  do  all  the  men's  work,  and  the  men 
the  women's. 

"  One  great  impediment  here  is  not  having  the  language. 
Not  one  of  our  friends  here  can  converse  surely  with  the 
natives.  All  is  done  through  an  interpreter,  one  of  those 
who  has  lived  at  Griqua  Town.  They  are  good-tempered 
people  in  general,  happ)'  and  easy,  dance  and  sing  a  good 
deal.  The  strong  man  armed  keeps  his  house  in  peace, 
but  we  hope  ere  long  to  see  one  stronger  than  he  take  pos- 
session. They  have  curious  notions  about  God.  They 
make  Him  the  author  of  everything  evil.  If  it  rain  when 
they  don't  wish  it,  they  ask  why  God  does  so  ;  if  the  ground 
is  parched,  the  same.  "  Mary  Moffat." 

In  a  letter  to  his  parents,  dated  from  Griqua 
Town  the  eighteenth  of  September,  Robert  Moffat 
writes  : 

"  On  the  fifth  day  after  our  departure  from  Griqua  Town 
we  arrived  at  Lattakoo,  and  found  all  the  friends  there  well. 
We  were  soon  introduced  to  Moteebe,  the  king,  who  seemed 
very  much  pleased  at  our  arrival.  We  were  soon  visited 
by  a  retinue  of  chiefs,  with  people  who,  of  course,  were 
anxious  to  see  the  strangers.  To  Mr.  C.  and  myself 
the  sight  was  not  new,  having  been  amongst  them  before, 
but  to  Mary  it  was ;  indeed  their  manner,  appearance, 
and  dress  must  greatly  interest  any  one,  and  especially 
my  dear  Mary,  whose  hopes  had  been    so   long  directed 


CURIOSITY  OF    THE   NATIVES.  85 

towards  that  people.  After  rem;uning  three  weeks  settling 
the  affairs  of  the  mission,  Mr.  Campbell  set  off  on  a  journey 
nearly  north-east.  He  took  Mr.  Read  with  him,  deeming 
it  of  importance  that  I  should  remain  with  a  view  to 
ingratiate  myself  into  the  affections  of  Moteebe  and  hi- 
people. 

"  After  two  months  Mr.  C.  returned,  having  visited  some 
nations,  properly  tribes,  hitherto  unexplored.  We  remained 
a  week  together,  when  Mr.  C,  Mr.  R.,  my  wife  and  self,  set 
off  on  a  journey  to  the  westward  along  the  bed  of  the 
Kuruman  River.  We  visited  many  towns  of  the  Boot- 
suanas,  in  which  Mr.  Campbell  and  myself  alternateh' 
preached  to  the  benighted  inhabitants  the  word  of  life. 
Our  journey  extended  to  Lehaise's  town,  the  most  westerly 
of  the  Bootsuanas,  lying  on  the  east  side  of  that  great 
desert  which  separates  Namaqualand  from  them.  The 
inhabitants  here  never  having  been  visited  by  white  people 
before,  made  our  visit  the  more  interesting  to  them,  who  of 
course  received  us  as  curiosities,  and  especially  Mary,  who 
got  plenty  to  stare  at  her  and  her  dress.  They  have  often 
sat  nearly  the  whole  of  the  day  gazing  upon  our  movements, 
and  especially  our  sitting  together  at  table  when  dining  in 
the  tent ;  our  using  knives  and  forks,  plates  and  different 
dishes,  was  such  a  sight  as  they  had  never  seen  before  or 
heard  of  In  one  of  our  interviews  with  Lehaise,  the  old 
chief  was  asked  if  he  would  like  to  have  a  missionary  with 
him  to  inform  him  and  his  people  of  the  things  of  God. 
This  grave,  aged,  and  well-looking  man  answered  very 
seriously  :  Yes  !  if  the  missionaries  could  tell  him  how  he 
could  become  a  young  man  again.  He  also  added  that  if 
missionaries  came  he  was  not  able  to  sing. 

"Such  was  the  judgment  he  formed  of  the  missionaries; 
and  oh,  how  affecting!  The  subject  of  his  answers  was 
explained,  and  he  seemed  to  approve  of  missionaries 
coming  among  them. 

"  Taking  a  circuitous  road  on  our  return,  we  fell  in  with 
some  Koranna  kraals.  They  differ  materially  in  manners 
and  dress  from  the  Bootsuanas,  though  residing  very  near 
them.      To   obtain   water   for  themselves   and   their  cattle 


86         INTERCOURSE    WITH  AFRIKANER. 

they  dig  down  in  the  beds  of  periodical  rivers  to  the  depth 
of  twenty-five  feet.  By  means  of  five  men  standing  at  a 
suitable  height  from  each  other  they  hand  the  water  up  in 
a  wooden  bowl  ;  and  this  requires  to  be  done  daily. 

"  After  an  absence  of  little  more  than  a  fortnight  we 
arrived  safely  at  Lattakoo.  Shortly  after,  we  had  letters 
from  Dr.  Philip  informing  us  that  permission  had  not  yet 
been  obtained  from  the  Governor  for  me  to  remain  at 
Lattakoo.  Nothing  now  remained  but  to  return.  We  all 
felt  acutely,  as  our  hopes  and  designs  were  completely 
thwarted.  We  were  obliged,  however,  to  submit  to  the 
powers  that  be,  and  to  look  to  Him  who  has  the  hearts  of 
;ill  men  in  His  hand,  and  to  say,  'The  Lord  reigneth.' 

"  After  suitable  preparations,  we,  including  Mr.  Read 
and  family,  took  our  departure  from  Lattakoo — nor  could 
we  help  being  affected  on  leaving  a  country  where  the 
harvest  was  great  and  the  labourers  so  few — ^Mr.  Hamilton 
being  left  alone  with  a  Griqua  assistant  and  a  few  Hotten- 
tots. A  remarkable  circumstance  took  place  just  before 
we  left.  Previous  to  our  leaving  the  Cape  I  wrote  to 
Christian  (Jager)  Afrikaner  to  meet  me  at  Griqua  Town  or 
Lattakoo,  and  bring  my  cattle  and  property  with  him ; 
which  he  did,  and  arrived,  as  above,  just  when  we  were 
preparing  to  return.  I  was  happy  to  see  them,  and  to  hear 
that  all  went  on  well  in  Namaqualand.  To  his  honour  I 
would  just  add  that  my' books  and  articles  of  furniture  were 
in  good  order.  Particular  attention  had  been  paid  to  these, 
as  well  as  to  my  cattle  and  sheep,  during  my  long  absence. 
Such  was  the  conduct  of  the  once  plundering  Afrikaner, 
conduct  in  every  respect  becoming  a  Christian.  He  stated 
his  regret  at  my  being  taken  from  them,  and  his  wish  to 
remove  to  a  situation  near  my  destination,  which  was  to  us 
at  that  juncture  unsettled. 

"  We  returned  by  another  road  from  Lattakoo,  in  order  to 
see  a  fountain  which  might  afterwards  become  a  station  for 
the  Bushmen.  While  we  were  at  the  said  fountain,  some  of 
these  unfortunate  people,  whose  interests  we  were  seeking, 
came  during  the  night  and  set  off  with  four  of  our  cattle. 
They  were    pursued    in    the   morning,  but   in    vain.     The 


THE   M  OF  FATS   AT   GRIQUA    TOWN.        87 

pirsuers,  however,  caught  one  man  and  a  boy,  who  were 
more  or  less  engaged  in  the  theft.  These  were  brought  to 
the  waggons,  and  our  people  had  much  to  do  to  keep  the 
few  Bootsuanas  who  were  with  us  from  plunging  their 
assegais  into  them — such  is  the  abhorrence  which  the 
Bootsuanas  have  to  that  despised  and  forlorn  people. 
But  it  is  also  to  be  observed  that  the  Bootsuanas  suffer 
greatly  from  their  depredations,  which  so  exasperates  them 
that  they  spare  neither  man  nor  woman  nor  child. 

"  The  prisoners  alluded  to,  especially  the  eldest,  expected 
nothing  but  death,  but  we  let  him  go  after  giving  him 
a  sufficient  number  of  stripes. 

"  To  proceed  on  our  journey.  Afrikaner  left  us  when 
we  were  halfway  to  Griqua  Town,  to  take  a  nearer  route 
home.  When  we  were  near  Griqua  Town  we  received  a 
letter  from  the  Rev.  Mr.  Faure  of  Graaff  Reinett,  informing 
us  that  permission  was  granted  for  me  to  proceed  to  my 
destination.  This  was  unexpected  but  pleasing  infor- 
mation. The  same  letters  also  informed  us  that  he,  in 
company  with  the  Landdrost  of  Graaff  Reinett,  was  on  his 
way  to  Griqua  Town  and  Lattak6o. 

"  We  came  here  and  awaited  the  arrival  of  Mr.  Stocken- 
strom,  the  Landdrost,  whose  object  was  to  investigate  the 
political  concerns  of  this  people,  which  had  hitherto  been 
in  a  state  of  confusion." 

When  Mr.  Stockenstrom  had  done  his  work 
amon^  the  Griquas,  he  prevailed  upon  Moffat  to  go 
with  him  on  a  visit  to  Lattakoo.  It  had  been  de- 
cided that  for  a  few  months  he  should  remain  at 
Griqua  Town  to  set  the  affairs  of  that  town  in  order, 
before  he  availed  himself  of  the  Government  per- 
mission to  settle  at  Lattakoo.  John  Campbell  was  • 
now  to  take  his  departure.  To  the  Moffats  it  was 
an  affectinof  occasion.  Thev  had  been  in  his  com- 
pany  as  fellow-travellers  many  months,  ap-d  he  had 
singularly  endeared  himself  to  them. 


88  JOHN   CAMPBELL'S   SNUFF-BOX. 

Fifty  years  afterwards  Moffat  wrote  to  a  con  of 
Robert  Philip  of  Kingsland,  John  Campbell's  suc- 
cessor, who  had  sent  him  as  a  relic  the  snuff-box  of 
his  old  friend  : 

"  I  must  now  thank  you  for  the  late  good  old  Johnny 
Campbell's  snuff-box.  Of  course  I  could  not  but  know  it, 
havinij  travelled  so  much  with  him  in  our  dear  Africa.  I 
prize  it  exceedingly,  and  feel  honoured  in  possessing  it, 
and  will  care  for  it  being  cared  for,  after  getting  engraved 
on  it  from  whence  I  received  it.  John  Campbell,  his  name 
is  fragrant.  The  very  sight  of  the  box  brought  to  mind 
great  and  little  incidents  of  long  bygone  years.  I  have 
often  seen  him,  when  perplexed,  take  out  his  snuff-box, 
take  a  pinch,  and  sometimes  two  if  the  subject  was  weighty, 
and  in  the  tent,  or  outside  of  the  tent,  or  on  the  other  side 
of  a  thin  partition,  he  might  be  heard  to  say,  '  Oh  I  never 
was  in  such  a  world  as  this  ! '  More  delightful  society  and 
a  better  fellow-traveller  than  Mr.  Campbell  could  not  be 
desired.  Many,  many  nights,  to  avoid  the  heat  of  the  sun, 
we  travelled  together  in  one  waggon  for  company,  and  he 
was  wont  to  interest  us  (Mrs.  M.  and  self)  with  anecdotes 
almost  without  end,  all  bearing  on  what  was  good,  and 
many  of  which  had  reference  to  the  course  of  Christ's 
kingdom  in  our  own  and  in  foreign  lands." 


CHAPTER  XI. 

SOJOURN  AT  GRIQUA    TOWN. 
182C-22. 

THE  Moffats  were  now  settled  down  for  a  few 
months  at  Griqua  Town,  and  the  foIlovvinL,'^ 
from  Mary  Moffat  is  a  simple  description  of 
the  homely  ways  which  obtained  in  those  secluded 
regions — indeed  it  will  still  hold  good  of  what  may 
still  be  found  in  some  parts  of  South  Africa  : 

"  I  dare  say  my  friends  often  wonder  how  we  proceed  in 
our  domestic  concerns.  In  some  of  them  we  are  extremely 
awkward,  and  in  others  pretty  well.  For  instance,  in  this 
part  of  the  country  it  is  the  custom  to  have  the  kitchen 
separate  from  the  house,  a  thing  which  few  English  women 
can  reconcile  their  minds  to  ;  for  when  that  is  the  case  the 
kitchen  of  the  missionary  is  the  place  of  common  resort, 
and  if  one  turns  one's  back,  perhaps  half  of  the  food  is 
gone,  and  spoons,  knife,  fork,  or  whatever  lies  ahout,  is  away. 
They  are  generally  such  places  as  an  English  person  cannot 
sit  in,  because  there  is  no  chimney  and  the  place  is  full  of 
smoke,  and  it  must  all  go  out  at  the  door  or  not  at  al'. 
Add  to  this  the  wood  fire,  which  requires  one  person's 
const;  nt  attendance  to  keep  in  and  regular. 

"  Those  who  have  tolerably  good  houses  have  generally 
what  is  called  a  fore-house.      It  is  the  place  of  entrance. 


90  MODE   OF  LIVING. 

The  outer  door  renders  it  cool  and  comfortable,  which 
door  is  in  the  middle,  as  in  a  hall ;  and  this  place  is 
generally  the  largest  in  the  house.  It  is  the  houseplace  of 
the  family,  where  they  eat,  fold  and  iron  their  clothes, 
prepare  victuals  for  the  fire,  &;c.  At  each  end  of  this  place 
is  a  small  room,  one  of  them  the  bed-room,  the  other  the 
private  sitting-room,  study,  or  whatever  you  may  call  it. 
Behind  are  detached  pack-houses,  where  everything  is 
kept.  This  is  the  plan  of  a  good  missionary  house  here, 
and  I  approve  it,  only  I  would  have  both  kitchen  and 
pack-houses  attached  to  the  dwelling-house.  If  I  want  a 
little  coffee,  sugar,  or  butter,  I  like  to  have  it  at  least  a  little 
nearer  the  house  than  they  have  it.  Custom  seems  to  have 
established  this  awkward  system,  which  is  productive  of 
many  evils  :  for  instance,  it  ruins  servants,  and  there  is 
such  a  propensity  in  all  the  natives  of  this  country  to 
assist  each  other  to  food,  when  they  have  it  in  their  power, 
that  you  cannot  keep  them  from  it  whilst  the  kitchen  is  out 
of  your  sight. 

"  However,  my  good  man  dislikes  it  as  much  as  I  do, 
and  has  promised  to  order  matters  differently,  when  he 
builds,  which  will  be  on  our  return  to  the  Kuruman.  No 
servant  will  like  it,  as  she  will  not  then  have  an  oppor- 
tunity of  displaying  her  liberality.  They  seem  to  account 
all  Europeans  stingy.  Poor  creatures !  they  are  ignorant 
of  the  value  of  most  things,  and  they  think  we  should  eat 
everything  up  at  once  as  they  do,  and  starve  all  the  rest  of 
the  time. 

"  The  washing  is  done  at  the  river,  in  cold  water,  and 
instead  of  rubbing  they  beat  things  upon  the  stones,  which 
wears  them  fast.  When  we  get  settled,  I  wish  very  much 
to  wash  in  the  English  way.  We  cannot  at  present  for 
want  of  tubs,  but  Moffat  has  promised  to  make  me  some, 
as  I  know  he  will. 

"  With  regard  to  animal  food,  all  missionaries,  however 
small  the  family,  kill  a  sheep  (but  the  sheep  are  small  in 
this  land)  every  week  in  the  moderate  weather.  They 
must  do  it  on  account  of  the  people  they  have  about  them — 
people  in  the  garden,  &c.,  who  all  eat  more  than  their  work 


HOW    THE  LARDER  IS  REPLEXISHED.     91 

is  worth,  for  it  will  take  two  or  three  generations  to  get 
indolence  out  of  their  nature.  The  chief  part  of  the  sheep's 
fat  is  in  the  tail,  which  is  an  enormous  size,  a  burthen  for  it 
to  carry.  The  fat  of  this  is  of  quite  an  oily  nature  and 
very  rich  ;  this  we  melt,  and  it  assists  in  cookery.  In  the 
heat  of  summer  it  will  not  stiffen  unless  mixed  with  hard 
fat  and  set  in  a  cool  place.  With  the  hard  fat  we  make 
candles,  and  some  people  soap ;  but  that  is  an  immense  and 
troublesome  business,  being  three  weeks  every  day  on  the 
fire,  and  requiring  the  most  constant  attention. 

"  As  much  of  the  mutton  as  we  can  we  salt  for  the 
summer,  for  fresh  meat  will  not  keep  a  day  here  in  that 
season.  Sometimes  an  ox  or  a  cow  is  killed,  and  the  chiet 
part  of  it  salted.  The  salt  here  is  used  in  its  natural  state, 
and  is  both  salt  and  saltpetre.  We  smoke  the  meat  to 
keep  the  moth  out  of  it,  otherwise  it  would  be  devoured — 
and  is  even  then  sometimes. 

"  Most  missionaries  have  a  brick  oven  for  their  bread. 
We  leaven  our  bread,  always  keeping  a  lump  of  leaven,  and 
the  bread  is  as  sweet  as  any  yeast  could  make  it  if  we 
do  not  let  it  work  too  long.  We  have  the  wheat  all  ground 
down  together,  and  I  like  it  better  than  sifted  for  house- 
hold bread. 

"The  cows  in  this  country  give  very  little  milk.  Seven 
or  eight  are  no  better  than  one  English  cow.  When  I  was 
in  England  we  used  to  wonder  what  the  'thick  milk'  was 
of  which  Mr.  Campbell  spoke,  and  now  I  can  tell  you.  It 
is  only  the  natives  who  make  it,  but  I  shall  certainly  have 
it  too  if  ever  I  get  abundance  of  milk,  it  is  so  good.  They 
get  a  goat-skin  and  scrape  the  hair  quite  clean  off,  so  that 
you  could  not  tell  that  it  had  been  hairy.  Then  they  turn 
the  outer  side  in,  sew  it  up  into  a  bag  with  a  narrow  neck- 
like  a  bottle.  At  the  bottom  they  have  a  very  small  peg 
stuck  in,  a  thick  peg  at  the  top  which  closes  the  mouth  of 
the  sack.  Into  this  sack  of  goat's-skin  they  pour  their  milk 
as  it  comes  from  the  cow.  Perhaps  in  three  or  four  days  it 
is  full.  It  is  hung  in  a  pretty  warm  place.  They  pull  out 
the  small  peg  at  the  bottom  and  let  the  whey  off.  The 
milk  is  poured  out  at  the  top  end  of  the  sack,  and  comes 


92  PRIMITIVE   FLOOR   SCRUBBING. 

to  the  table  wet,  but  not  swashy.  This  when  served  up 
loolcs  lilce  a  dis'i  of  light  curds.  The  milk  here  being  very 
rich  it  has  quite  a  yellow  appearance.  It  is  rather  sour, 
and  with  a  little  sugnr  and  new  milk  it  is  delightful.  I  did 
not  fancy  it  at  first,  but  probabl}'  it  was  on  account  of  its 
being  brought  in  their  dirty  vessels.  I  have  now  got  over 
that,  and  eat  it  with  relish.  Moteebe  frequently  brought 
us  a  dish  of  it,  which  is  a  great  mark  of  esteem.  The 
Bootsuanas  have  it  much  nicer  than  others,  because  they 
let  no  dirt  into  the  bag. 

"  I  have  yet  another  of  our  customs  to  relate.  You  will 
perhaps  think  it  curious  when  I  tell  you  that  we  smear  all 
our  room  floors  with  cow  dung  once  a  week  at  least.  At 
first  when  I  saw  Sister  Helm  do  it  I  thought  to  myself, 
'  But  I'll  do  without  that  dirty  trick,  or  I  will  try  hard.' 
However,  I  had  not  been  here  long  but  was  glad  to  have  it 
done,  and  I  have  hardly  patience  to  wait  till  Saturday.  It 
lays  the  dust  better  than  anything,  kills  the  fleas  which 
would  otherwise  breed  abundantly,  and  is  a  fine  clear 
green.  You  observe  it  is  mixed  with  water,  and  laid  on  as 
thinly  as  possible.  I  now  look  upon  my  floor  smeared 
with  cow  dung  with  as  much  complacency  as  I  used  to  do 
unon  our  best  rooms  when  well  scoured. 

"  Writing  about  this  curious  article  puts  me  in  mind  of  a 
custom  of  the  Bootsuanas.  If  his  majesty  Moteebe  dines 
with  us,  before  he  eats  he  sends  his  servant  for  a  handful 
of  this  article  and  rubs  his  hands  with  it  till  every  particle 
of  dirt  is  gone.  However  curious  it  may  appear  to  you,  I 
would  rather  see  him  eat  after  this  process  than  before  it, 
as  their  hands  get  a  share  of  the  nasty  fat  and  red  ochre 
with  which  they  smear  themselves. 


" Griqua  Town,  Aug.  ii,  1820." 


«M.  M. 


The  close  of  the  year  found  the  Moffats  still  at 
Griqua  Town.  This  place  was  inhabited  by  a 
mixed  multitude  of  Griquas,  Korannas,  Hottentots, 
and  even   Bushmen  and  some   Bechwanas.     At  an 


ANDERSON  AMONG   THE  GRIQUAS.        93 

early  period,  about  the  year  1799,  missionaries  made 
an  effort  to  collect  the  scattered  Bushmen  in  th(; 
northern  part  of  the  Colony.  They  were  only  par- 
tially successful,  and  they  extended  their  plans  so 
as  to  include  others  as  well  as  Bushmen.  There 
were  many  people  of  mixed  blood,  descendants  of 
the  Dutch  farmers,  who  had  taken  to  a  roving  and 
marauding  life.  The  missionaries  Anderson  and 
Kramer  spent  several  years  of  almost  incredible 
hardship  following  these  people  in  their  wanderings, 
and  at  length  succeeded  in  prevailing  upon  a  large 
body  of  them  to  settle  down.  When  once  this  was 
accomplished,  the  new  village  soon  became  a  rallying 
point  for  members  of  all  the  broken  tribes  above 
mentioned.  Mr.  Anderson  lived  to  see  a  laree 
and  orderly  community  making  great  progress  in 
industrious  habits,  and  a  Christian  church  formed. 
Then  the  Government  took  a  very  strange  step. 
An  order  was  sent  to  Mr.  Anderson  to  furnish 
twenty  Griquas  as  recruits  to  the  Cape  regiment. 
It  might  have  been  supposed  that  these  people 
would  have  been  left  alone.  The  missionaries  had 
found  them  mere  wanderers  in  the  desert  beyond 
Colonial  control,  and  had  gathered  them  together  in 
a  locality  far  outside  of  the  frontier,  where  they  could 
claim  no  protection  except  that  of  God  and  their 
own  right  hand. 

Mr.  Anderson  had  no  option  but  to  give  the 
message,  and  the  effect  was  disastrous.  He  at  once 
lost  the  confidence  which  he  had  earned  by  years  of 
patient  labour  and  self-denial.  Up  to  this  time  he 
had  acted  as  a  medium  of  correspondence  between 
the  Griquas  and  the  Government,  and  had,  moreover, 


94  REORGANIZING    THE   MISSION. 

been  the  adviser  and  guide  of  his  people  in  reference 
not  only  to  spiritual  but  political  matters.  They 
now  began  to  look  upon  him  as  an  emissary  in  the 
interest  of  the  Government,  and  so  utterly  did  their 
trust  in  him  fail  that  in  a  few  years  he  saw  it  his 
duty  to  give  up  the  charge  of  the  mission  of  which 
he  was  to  a  large  extent  the  founder,  and  to  retire 
to  another  station  in  the  Colony.  Nor  were  the 
effects  less  disastrous  to  the  people  themselves. 
They  began  to  break  up ;  one  party,  headed  by  the 
most  influential  chief,  removed  to  another  part  of  the 
country  ;  a  second,  though  acknowledged  as  chief, 
withdrew  to  a  distance  of  about  fifty  miles  ;  and 
Griqua  Town  was  left  with  a  population  reduced  in 
numbers  and  practically  without  a  head. 

It  was  at  this  juncture  that  Robert  Moffat  was 
requested  by  Mr.  Campbell  to  assist  Mr.  Helm  in 
reorganizing  the  mission  on  a  new  footing.  The 
task  seems  to  have  been  a  difficult  one.  The  people 
were  invited  by  the  missionaries  to  make  choice  of 
one  of  their  number  as  chief.  They  did  so,  showing 
great  wisdom  in  the  appointment  of  the  late  Andries 
Waterboer,  who  for  many  years  ruled  the  settlement 
with  firmness  and  discretion,  but  was  succeeded  by 
a  son  far  inferior  in  character,  under  whom  matters 
went  altogether  wrong.  The  Griqua  Mission  is 
now  a  thing  of  the  past.  They  as  a  people  have 
broken  up,  and  are  becoming  absorbed  in  larger  and 
stronger  communities  around  them;  but  this  is  no 
reason  for  considerinor  what  was  done  amonofst  them 
in  the  earlier  days  as  thrown  away.  For  a  long 
time  the  Griquas  served  a  good  purpose  on  the 
northern  border  of  the   Colony — as   we  shall  have 


THE  GRIQUA  CHURCH  NEEDS  DISCIPLINE.  95 

occasion  to  notice — ap;\rt  from  purely  spiritual  results, 
of  which  the  annals  of  the  mission  furnish  abun- 
dantly satisfactory  [)roof. 

Of  the  mere  deoraded  wanderers  in  the  desert 
whom  the  first  missionaries  o-athered  together,  many 
a  humble  and  faithful  believer  in  the  Lord  has 
entered  into  rest  after  a  life  of*  consistent  godliness. 

During-  his  stay  at  Griqua  Town  Robert  Moffat 
wrote  as  follows  : 

"  As  it  regards  the  cause  of  our  Lord  in  this  place,  I 
cannot  say  much  to  the  praise  of  the  Griquas.  It  is  true 
of  late  we  have  been  delighted  to  see  a  full  church.  The 
members  are  numerous.  The  last  tjme  I  administered  the 
Lord's  Supper  there  were  upwards  of  forty  who  partook  ; 
but  alas  !  too  many  of  these  have  stains  on  their  garments, 
but  of  such  a  nature  as  not  to  bring  them  under  church 
discipline.  Heretofore  this  important  duty  has  not  been 
exercised  to  that  extent  that  Paul  would  have  done  had 
he  been  here.  The  result  of  such  neglect  is  that  our 
church  is  a  mixed  heap  of  which  the  major  part  is  rubbish. 
They  have  a  name,  and  they  lead  a  course  of  life  which 
exhibits  neither  a  devil  nor  a  saint.  Within  the  last  month  a 
number  of  these  dead  members  have  been  amputated  from 
the  body,  and  their  examples  have  the  very  effect  which 
the  Scriptures  intimate  :  'others  fear,'  and  dread  to  commit 
crimes  which  they  would  otherwise  have  done  with  im- 
punity. Mr.  Helm,  who  is  a  wise,  prudent,  and  pious 
brother,  fully  coincides  with  my  views,  and  is  very  zealous 
in  clearing  the  church  of  such  fruitless  stumps.  We  rejoice, 
however,  in  the  faithful  few  who  seem  indeed  pillars  in  the 
temple  of  our  God.  These,  with  others  who  have  entered 
the  regions  of  immortality,  witness  that  the  labours  of  Mr. 
Anderson  have  not  been  in  vain,  and  that  the  exertions  of 
British  Christians  have,  through  the  Divine  blessing,  been 
mighty  in  pulling  down  the  strongholds  of  Satan. 

"  This  season  has  been  extremely  warm,  and  we  have 
had  much  thunder.     On  the  21st  of  November  we  had  a 


96        MARY  MOFFAT'S  SEVERE  ILLNESS. 

heavy  storm  of  thunder,  lii^htning,  and  rain.  The  light- 
ning struck  and  set  fire  to  a  small  round  storehouse  in 
which  some  of  our  goods  lay.  It  entered  the  top  and  ran 
obliquely  down  one  of  the  thick  poles  which  supported 
the  roof,  shattering  it  into  a  thousand  pieces.  It  passed 
through  the  wall,  melting  the  very  stones  in  its  course. 

"  Means  were  soon  used,  the  fire  was  got  under,  and 
no  injury  whatever  sustained.  This  round  house  is  only 
about  fourteen  yards  distant  from  our  dwelling-house,  and 
scarcely  so  far  from  Mr.  Helm's.  It  was  very  alarming, 
and  deeply  impressed  our  minds  of  God's  fatherly  pro- 
tection. On  the  28th  of  the  same  month  the  lightning 
struck  a  tree  in  one  of  the  missionary  gardens  at  Lat- 
takoo." 

Towards  the  end  of  1820,  Mary  Ivloffat  was 
prostrated  by  a  severe  illness,  and  for  a  long  time 
it  seemed  unlikely  that  she  would  recover.  In 
reference  to  this  her  husband  writes  some  weeks 
afterwards : 

"  We  are  assured  that  though  weeping  endures  for  a 
night,  joy  will  come  in  the  morning,  which  has  also  been 
realized  in  the  experience  of  thousands  since  it  was 
written.  A  very  short  experience,  indeed,  convinces  us 
that  the  brightest  scenes  and  most  enlivening  prospects  are 
not  without  their  alloy  ;  like  the  interrupted  rays  of  the 
unchanging  sun  which  cast  a  shade  on  our  most  dazzling 
enjoyments,  and  convince  us  that  this  is  not  our  rest,  and 
that  the  Christian  life  at  best  is  a  life  of  vicissitude.  Happy 
they,  whether  on  beds  of  languishing  or  in  adversity,  who 
can  say,  '  Faithful  are  the  wounds  of  a  friend.'  To  such, 
affliction  is  not  loss,  but  gain,  for  they  say  from  experience 
that  it  is  good  to  be  afflicted,  and  joy  more  exalted  and 
pure  takes  possession  of  the  mourner's  heart.  This,  my 
dear  parents,  has  been  the  experience  of  myself,  but 
especially  of  your  beloved  daughter.  She  has  sowed  in 
tears,  but  now  reaps  in  joy.     Yes ;  she  who  a  few  months 


BIRTH  OF  A  DAUGHTER.  97 

ago  stood  on  the  brink  of  eternity,  expecting  hourly  to 
nuit  the  tottering  fabric,  deHvering  with  sinking  voice  her 
last  message,  is  at  this  moment  sitting  in  perfect  health, 
with  a  lovely,  healthy  daughter  on  her  knee.  Surely  this 
is  the  Lord's  doing,  and  is  wonderful  in  our  eyes." 

This  daughter  v^^as  named  Mary,  and  was  after- 
wards known  as  the  wife  of  David  Livingstone. 
She  was  born  on  the  twelfth  of  April.  Very  soon 
afterwards  the  quiet  little  community  at  Griqna 
Town  was  enlivened  by  an  unusual  event  —  the 
influx  of  a  large  party  of  visitors  :  Mr.  John  Mel- 
ville of  Cape  Town,  with  his  wife  and  family,  and 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kaye,  Wesleyan  missionaries.  The 
former  had  come  as  a  representative  of  Government, 
to  inquire  into  political  affairs,  with  a  view  to  his 
eventually  taking  up  his  abode  as  Resident  at 
Griqua  Town. 

Mr.  Kaye's  object  was  to  find  a  station  among 
the  Bechwanas.  As  the  time  was  now  come  for 
the  Moffats  to  commence  their  work  at  Lattakoo, 
it  was  agreed  that  their  visitors  should  accompany 
them,  and  so  the  whole  party  started  together,  and 
arrived  In  safety  on  the  seventeenth  of  May.  Mr. 
Hamilton  was  not  a  little  comforted  by  the  advent 
of  his  future  companions  in  labour.  He  had 
borne  trials  of  no  ordinary  character,  which  would 
have  caused  many  men  to  give  up  in  despair. 
Though  gentle  and  unassuming,  and  by  no  means 
disposed  or  fitted  to  take  a  leading  part,  he  was  a 
man  whose  faithful  obedience  to  his  Master  and 
tenacious  perseverance  nothing  could  shake  or 
turn  aside.  From  this  time  he  and  Moffat  stood 
shoulder  to  shoulder  through  a  work  of  more  than 


gS  MOFFAT  SETTLES  AT  KURUMAN. 

thirty  years,  at  the  close  of  which  he  was  called 
away  to  his   rest. 

This  period  marks  the  commencement  of  Robert 
Moffat's  permanent  connection  with  the  Kuruman 
Mission.  It  may  be  well  to  explain  here  that  the 
name  of  Lattakoo,  so  long  used,  was  better  known 
in  England  than  in  South  Africa.  When  Mr. 
Campbell  paid  his  first  visit  he  found  the  Batlaping 
tribe  at  a  place  called  Letakong,  about  thirty-six 
miles  north-east  of  the  present  station  of  Kuruman. 
When  the  missionaries  he  had  promised  to  send 
arrived  at  their  destination,  the  tribe  had  removed, 
■or  was  removing,  to  a  spot  on  the  Kuruman  River, 
about  ten  miles  from  its  source.  The  name  Leta- 
kong— or,  as  It  had  been  transformed  by  persons 
unaccustomed  to  native  pronunciation,  Lattakoo — 
had,  however,  become  identified  with  that  parti- 
cular station,  and  for  a  long  time  continued  to  be 
so,  until  the  missionaries  moved  a  little  higher  up 
the  valley,  and  Kuruman,  which  was  the  name  of 
the  river,  came  into  use. 

The  Kuruman  River,  so-called,  is  through  the 
greater  part  of  its  course  a  mere  channel,  such  as 
is  common  enough  in  that  waterless  region.  The 
stream,  which  takes  its  rise  as  already  described 
m  a  previous  chapter,  flows  for  a  mile  or  more 
along  a  somewhat  narrow  valley.  This  then  widens 
out,  and  the  water  used  to  spread  over  a  broad, 
reedy  lagoon  or  marsh,  but  has  been  stopped  with 
a  dyke,  and  led  in  watercourses  along  the  higher 
ground  on  either  side,  and  made  available  for  irri- 
gation. Little  or  none  of  it  passes  beyond  the 
.limits  of  the  present  station.     Such  is  the  thirsty 


DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  COUNTRY.  99 

nature  of  the  soil,  that,  especially  during  the  grovv- 
ing  season,  every  drop  is  required  for  watering 
the  lands. 

A  few  miles  lower  down,  at  the  site  of  the  old 
station,  there  is  a  recurrence,  of  springs  in  the 
river-bed,  and  a  stream  again  flows  for  some  dis- 
tance and  eventually  disappears.  The  course  o, 
the  Kuruman  trends  away  westward,  and  then 
southward  across  the  Kalahari  Desert.  Here  and 
there,  at  long  intervals,  wells  are  sunk  in  the  chalk 
deposits  within  the  channel ;  but  it  is  only  in  an 
exceptional  year  that  there  is  any  stream,  and  I 
am  doubtful  whether  even  that  fitful  stream  ever 
runs  continuously  as  far  as  the  junction  of  the 
Kuruman  with  the  Orange  River. 

The  higher  part  of  the  Kuruman  used  to  be 
well  fringed  with  mimosas.  These  have  nearly 
all  disappeared,  owing  to  the  increasing  demand 
for  wood.  The  picturesque  aspect  of  the  original 
station  and  its  environs,  which  so  pleased  Mary 
Moffat  on  her  arrival,  is  pretty  much  a  thing  of 
the  past. 

As  soon  as  we  ascend  the  low  banks  on  either 
side  and  leave  the  river,  we  find  the  surrounding 
country  barren  in  the  extreme.  For  many  miles 
nothing  is  to  be  seen  but  stony  hills  and  sandy 
plains  covered  with  long  grass,  which  for  the 
greater  part  of  the  year  is  not  green,  but  a  light 
straw-colour.  The  continuity  of  the  grassy  ex- 
panse is  broken  by  scattered  bushes  a  few  feet 
high  and  of  a  dull  grey  hue,  and  dotted  here  and 
there  with  a  few  dark-green  camel-thorn  trees,  To 
any  one  accustomed  to  the  rich  foliage  and  green 


loo  UNGRACIOUS  CONDUCT. 

fields  of  England,  such  a  prospect  must  be  cheer- 
less in  the  extreme,  especially  when,  as  in  those 
days,  the  transit  from  one  point  to  another  was  a 
matter  of  crawling  along  for  days  or  weeks  in  an 
ox-waggon. 

The  Kuruman  station  is  not  far  from  the  border 
of  the  desert.  Westward  towards  Namaqualand 
the  country  becomes  drier  and  more  dreary  at 
every  step.  Eastward,  and  particularly  north-east- 
ward, there  is  a  steady  improvement  until,  after  a 
journey  of  two  hundred  miles,  the  traveller  finds 
himself  in  a  comparatively  picturesque  and  well- 
wooded  region. 

The  self-denying  labours  of  the  original  pioneers 
had  not  been  attended  with  any  success  when  the 
Moffats  joined  the  Lattakoo  Mission.  The  Bech- 
wanas  turned  a  deaf  ear  to  the  gospel.  The  ground 
which  the  chief  had  given  them  for  gardens,  and 
which  they  with  immense  labour  had  made  avail- 
able by  leading  the  water  to  it,  was  encroached 
upon  by  the  women,  headed  by  the  chiefs  wife 
herself.  Rather  than  make  any  difficulty,  the 
point  was  conceded.  When  the  corn  ripened,  a 
great  part  of  it  was  openly  taken  by  the  people. 
Their  sheep  were  stolen  out  of  the  fold  at  night, 
or  driven  off  when  grazing  in  the  day-time  ;  until 
they  were  constrained  to  slaughter  the  remnant 
and  to  put  the  meat  into  salt  lest  they  should  lose 
it  altogether.  No  tool  or  household  utensil  could 
be  left  about  for  a  moment,  or  it  would  disap- 
pear. The  chief,  though  himself  friendly,  was  a 
man  of  weak  character,  and  could  not,  or  would 
not,  give  them   effective  help. 


INTERNAL  DIFFICULTIES.  loi 

A  severe  drought  had  set  in.  A  rainmaker  who 
came  from  the  N.E.,  when  he  found  all  his  arts  in 
vain,  laid  the  blame  on  the  white  strangers.  The 
people,  who  were  really  suffering  greatly,  were  onl)- 
too  ready  to  take  up  this  idea ;  and  for  a  time  it 
seemed  possible  that  the  missionaries  would  be 
driven  away. 

But  the  cruellest  trial  of  all  was  to  find  their  worst 
foes  within  their  own  camp.  A  number  of  Hotten- 
tots had  accompanied  the  missionaries  from  the  in- 
stitutions within  the  Colony.  These,  though  them- 
selves converts,  were  too  new  and  too  weak  in  the 
faith  to  meet  the  demands  which  were  made  upon 
their  constancy,  surrounded  as  they  were  by  a 
heathen  and  corrupt  people.  Their  conduct  became 
a  source  of  shame  to  their  leaders,  and  could  not  be 
otherwise  than  a  hindrance  to  the  gospel  of  which 
they  showed  themselves  such  unworthy  exemplars. 

Robert  Hamilton,  the  only  one  of  the  three 
originally  told  off  for  the  Lattakoo  Mission  who 
remained,  was  in  a  position  which  hampered  his  own 
usefulness,  and  must  have  hailed  with  joy  the  advent 
of  a  colleague  who  was  both  able  and  willing  to 
wield  the  pruning-knife  with  a  strong  and  skilful 
hand.  In  a  few  months  after  Robert  Moffat's  arrival 
a  course  of  stern  discipline  had  purged  the  little 
community ;  and  though  the  band  that  met  around 
the  Lord's  table  was  reduced  to  a  mere  fraction,  yet 
it  was  a  lesson  to  heathen  onlookers  that  must  have 
told  its  tale. 

In  February,  1822,  Mary  Moffat  writes  to  her 
parents : 

"  At  present  Moffat  is  applying  himself  with  all  diligence 


102  THE  PEOPLE  REJECT  THE  GOSPEL. 

to  the  language,  as  the  particular  object  of  his  destination 
here.  He  finds  immense  difficulties  from  the  barrenness  of 
the  language  and  imperfect  interpreters,  but  he  is  naturally 
too  persevering  soon  to  lose  courage.  This  is  his  sole 
motive  for  undertaking  a  journey  at  present,  in  order  to 
become  familiar  with  it  by  being  for  a  time  out  of  the  habit 
of  speaking  Dutch  with  our  own  people  here.  I  think  it 
will  also  be  of  advantage  to  me  in  that  respect ;  having  so 
much  to  employ  my  time  with  at  home  I  have  little  chance 
of  learning  much  of  it.  You  beg  of  us  to  pay  particular 
attention  to  the  instruction  of  the  rising  generation,  but 
alas,  we  have  no  opportunities  of  doing  this  :  the  people, 
instead  of  desiring  that  their  children  should  be  instructed, 
are  afraid  of  their  becoming  '  Dutchmen,'  so  tenacious  are 
they  of  their  old  customs  and  habits  ;  dnd  if  a  boy  and 
a  girl  venture  to  come  they  are  soon  laughed  out  of  it. 
Perhaps  if  we  gave  them  each  a  meal  of  meat  every  day 
or  a  few  beads,  we  might  have  the  place  crowded — but  on 
no  other  condition.  Oh  !  how  were  we  affected  on  reading 
an  account  of  Madagascar,  when  we  thought  of  the  dif- 
ference between  that  people  and  this  ;  they  so  desirous 
and  these  such  despisers  of  instruction.  As  to  some  of 
these  people  having  correct  notions  of  God  and  of  heaven, 
death  and  hell,  as  has  been  asserted,  you  must  not  believe 
it  ;  for  daily  conversations  convince  us  that  the  wisest  of 
them  have  most  corrupt  notions  on  these  subjects.  We  are 
astonished  at  their  dreadful  stupidity  about  these  things. 
My  beloved  parents,  we  have  much  need  of  your  sympathy 
and  prayers,  and  those  of  all  other  Christians.  Could  we 
but  see  the  smallest  fruit  we  could  rejoice  amidst  the  priva- 
tions and  toil  which  we  bear ;  but  as  it  is,  our  hands  do 
often  hang  down." 

^'  Aug.  29,  1822. 

"  I  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  brother  Alexander's 
letter  of  the  i6th  of  February,  1821.  It  rejoiced  us  ex- 
ceedingly to  hear  that  all  was  well  with  you.  It  is  always 
a  great  treat  to  us  to  receive  one  of  his  letters.  We  have 
not  a  more  interesting  correspondent.  My  own  father  and 
he  are  much  alike  in  their  letters.     We  hope  he  will  keep 


TRIALS  OF  FAITH.  103 

his  resolution  of  writing  once  every  four  months.  You 
can  form  no  idea  of  the  delicious  repast  which  a  well-filled 
letter  affords  to  our  minds,  especially  when  we  hear  that  all 
is  going  well.  We  are  entirely  at  the  mercy  of  our  friends 
for  what  we  know  of  what  is  going  on  in  the  world.  We 
seem  here  to  be  in  its  suburbs,  and  when  a  long  time  elapses 
without  fresh  intelligence  our  hearts  sicken  and  languish. 

"  We  have  no  prosperity  in  the  work,  not  the  least  sign 
of  good  being  done.  The  Bootsuanas  seem  more  careless 
than  ever,  and  seldom  enter  the  church.  Their  indifference 
seems  to  increase,and  insteadof  rejoicing  we  have  continually 
to  mourn  over  them.  Our  consolation  is  derived  from  the 
promises  of  the  immutable  Jehovah.  We  walk  by  faith 
and  not  by  sight.  How  mysterious  are  His  works,  and  His 
ways  past  finding'out.  In  almost  every  other  part  of  the  world 
to  which  the  gospel  is  sent,  some  of  the  people  receive  it 
gladly,  but  here  the  blessing  is  withheld.  Five  years  have 
rolled  on  since  the  missionaries  came,  and  not  one  soul 
converted,  nor  does  any  one  seem  to  lend  an  ear.  All 
treat  with  ridicule  and  contempt  the  truths  which  are  de- 
livered  

"  I  must  now  endeavour  to  remove  some  mistakes  under 
which  you  seem  to  labour  respecting  African  travelling. 
You  appeared  to  think  that  the  journey  from  Griqua  Town 
to  this  place  was  a  very  formidable  one.  It  is  true,  con- 
sidering the  weak  state  in  which  I  was  at  the  time  you 
allude  to,  it  was  a  little  exertion,  and  at  times  I  felt  it ;  but 
we  are  so  accustomed  to  travelling  that  in  general  we  think 
that  journey  a  mere  trifle.  Since  that  time  I  have  been 
twice  to  Griqua  Town  with  Robert.  We  think  it  essential 
to  health  to  take  a  trip  now  and  then,  and  it  is  a  rule  of 
mine  that  when  my  husband  goes  with  the  waggon  for 
more  than  two  days  I  go  with  him,  unless  circumstances 
render  it  very  improper.  If  he  goes  alone  he  does  not 
take  care  of  himself,  and  will  not  be  at  the  trouble  to  make 
himself  comfortable  ;  and  I  think  he  had  enough  of  that 
sort  of  life  in  Namaqualand.  But  you  can  form  no  idea 
how  comfortable  our  waggons  are.  They  are  very  light 
vehicles,  and  in  them  we  carry  all  necessary  comforts.     If 


104  OX-WAGGON  TRAVELLING. 

there  are  children,  they  play  on  the  bed  or  lie  asleep.  The 
length  of  oar  day  stages  is  about  eight  or  twelve  hours  on 
an  average,  riding  about  three  and  a  half  miles  an  hour  ; 
we  are  chiefly  guided  by  the  water,  riding  from  one  fountain 
to  another,  that  our  oxen  may  be  refreshed  as  well  as  our- 
selves. Sometimes  the  water  is  too  distant  and  we  make 
two  stages  of  it,  but  we  always  take  with  us  a  keg  of  water 
in  case  of  an  accident  in  the  wilderness.  When  we  span 
out  (or  unyoke),  a  fire  is  immediately  made,  the  kettle  set 
on,  and  coffee  or  tea  made.  I  would  here  notice  that  that 
missionary  must  be  very  regardless  of  his  wife's  comfort 
who  does  not  see  to  that  being  done  without  her  troubling 
herself  For  my  own  part  I  never  think  of  coming  out  of 
the  waggon  till  there  is  a  good  fire,  for  it  is  comfortless 
work  indeed  turning  out  in  a  cold  night  in  the  wilderness 
with  a  child  or  children  before  there  is  a  fire. 

*'  If  it  is  a  short  journey  we  generally  make  bread  enough 
to  serve  us  before  we  leave  home,  and  if  a  long  one  we  stop 
when  needful  to  provide  such  necessaries.  Having  thus 
refreshed  ourselves,  we  have  worship  with  our  people  round 
the  fire,  or  in  the  tent  which  we  sometimes  pitch,  and  retire 
to  rest  in  our  waggons.  In  these  we  have  as  comfortable 
beds  as  at  home,  only  a  little  strait,  especially  when  the 
family  increases.  The  Hottentots  roll  themselves  in  a 
kaross,  with  another  skin  under  them,  and  lie  round  a  good 
fire  quite  happy.  There  are  also  dangers  attending  our 
journeys.  In  many  places  a  sharp  look-out  must  be  kept 
lest  the  Bushmen  seize  our  oxen  while  grazing  ;  in  other 
places  the  lion  is  on  his  prowl  for  the  same  object.  In 
every  place  the  wolf  pays  us  a  visit.  He  seldom  touches 
the  oxen,  but  seizes  the  sheep  if  he  can.  Though  I  wish  to 
convince  you  that  we  do  not  lead  such  a  gypsy  sort  of 
life  as  brother  Sandy  seems  to  suspect,  I  shall  by  no 
means  attempt  to  prove  that  it  is  a  remarkably  pleasant 
life,  fcr  we  are  always  heartily  tired  by  the  time  the  journey 
is  done.  It  is  at  the  same  time  a  lazy  and  a  busy  life — all 
bustle  when  we  stop,  and  unfavourable  to  sewing  and 
reading  when  we  are  moving  ;  but  custom  and  necessity 
reconcile  us  to  it. 


DEATH  OF  AFRIKANER.  105 

"  At  the  present  time  the  scarcity  of  food  in  this  country 
is  terrible.  The  cattle  are  dying  from  want  in  every 
direction,  and  the  inhabitants  feed  on  the  flesh  of  the 
animals  which  are  starved  to  death.  Of  our  small  stock 
three  calves  and  four  cows  have  died,  and  from  the  re- 
mainder we  have  not  one  drop  of  milk.  The  poor  people 
have  scarcely  any  milk,  no  corn  nor  anything  else.  How 
they  live  we  know  not.     Truly  this  is  a  wretched  land. 

"  If  you  have  not  heard  what  I  am  going  to  communicate 
you  will  doubtless  be  much  affected.  Afrikaner  is  no  more 
an  inhabitant  of  this  lower  world,  but  has  passed  through 
the  swellings  of  Jordan  and  entered  the  abode  of  endless 
bliss.  Younker,  his  son,  has  lately  written  to  Robert  to 
apprise  him  of  it.  You  may  readily  conceive  of  the  feelings 
it  excited  in  our  breasts,  especially  that  of  Robert,  who 
was  once  so  nearly  connected  with  him.  He  feels  as  one 
who  has  lost  a  near  relation,  and  cannot  but  wish  that  he 
had  been  there  to  have  w^itnessed  his  happy  spirit  take  its 
flight." 

At  the  close  of  the  year  1822  Robert  Moffat 
writes  to  his  brother  : 

"  I  shall  now  give  some  particulars  of  our  present  situa- 
tion. The  most  important  is  the  cause  of  Christ.  Alas  ! 
we  still  hang  our  harp  on  the  willows,  and  mourn  over  the 
destiny  of  thousands  hastening  with  heedless  but  impetuous 
strides  to  the  regions  of  woe.  They  turn  a  deaf  ear  to  the 
voice  of  love,  and  treat  with  scorn  the  glorious  doctrines 
of  redemption.  This  often  causes  our  hearts  to  languish, 
while  our  eyes  fail  with  looking  upward. 

"  It  is,  however,  pleasing  to  reflect  that  affairs  in  general 
wear  a  more  hopeful  aspect  than  when  we  came  here. 
Several  instances  have  proved  the  people  determined  to 
relinquish  the  barbarous  system  of  commandoes  for  stealing 
cattle.  They  have  also  dispensed  with  a  rainmaker  this 
season.  We  rejoice  in  this,  because  his  services  and 
presence  must  ever  iorm  a  strong  barrier  to  the  spread  of 
the  gospel. 


io6  CHILDREN  RESCUED. 

"We  prayed  and  hoped  that  a  good  season  would 
thoroughly  convince  them  that  the  power  of  giving  rain 
belonged  only  unto  God,  but  He  whose  footsteps  are  in 
the  sea  has  been  pleased  to  order  it  otherwise.  The  season 
has  been  so  dry  as  to  destroy  their  corn,  except  a  little 
which  happened  to  be  sown  on  ground  a  little  marshy. 
Nothing,  however,  has  been  said  as  to  the  cause  of  the 
drought. 

"We  continue  on  friendly  terms  with  them,  though  we 
have  also  much  to  suffer,  especially  from  thieves,  who  pester 
us  on  all  sides. 

"  Ann  and  Dicky,  the  two  Bushmen  children  whom  I 
consider  part  of  the  faniily,  are  doing  well.  Ann  is  very 
useful,  and  forms  a  good  nurse  for  the  little  Mary." 

Some  months  before  this  Robert  Moffat,  on  one 
of  his  journeys,  had  come  unexpectedly  upon  a  party 
of  Bushmen.  They  were  digging  a  grave  for  one 
of  their  number,  a  woman,  who  had  died  leaving 
two  children.  Finding  that  it  was  the  intention  of 
the  party  to  bury  not  only  the  body  of  the  woman, 
but  the  two  children  also,  the  missionary  begged  for 
them  ;  and  as  the  only  object  was  to  get  rid  of  them, 
his  petition  was  readily  granted.  He  brought  them 
home,  and  for  some  years  they  were  part  of  his 
household. 


CHAPTER   XII. 

THE  MANTATEE  INVASION. 
1823,  1824. 

THE  year  1823  opened  quietly  enough,  though 
it  was  to  be  a  period  of  considerable  anxiety 
and  excitement.  The  Batlaping  continued 
indifferent  to  the  gospel,  and  unbelieving  of  any- 
thing beyond  the  things  of  time  and  of  sense  ;  but 
the  hostile  spirit  had  passed  away,  and  the  gentle 
perseverance  of  the  missionaries  in  bearing  evil  and 
in  doing  good  had  borne  fruit. 

At  the  end  of  March  a  second  daughter  was 
born,  who  was  named  Ann,  after  her  father's  mother. 

There  was  at  this  time  among  the  Batlaping  at 
Lattakoo  a  young  man,  a  refugee.  His  father, 
Makaba,  was  chief  of  another  Bechwana  tribe,  about 
tw^o  hundred  miles  to  the  N  N.E.,  and  the  son  had 
fled  from  his  father's  anger.  He  came  in  contact 
with  the  missionaries,  and  although  his  testimony 
about  Makaba  was  not  of  a  friendly  character,  it  had 
the  effect  of  exciting  in  the  mind  of  Robert  Moffat 
a  deep  interest  in  the  Bangwaketsi  and  their  chief, 
who  had  shown  somewhat  more  of  warlike  prowess 


io8         CLOUDS  FROM  THE  EASTWARD. 

than  their  neighbours,   and   had    made    themselves 
dreaded  far  and  wide. 

For  some  months  rumours  had  been  spreading, 
however,  which  had  put  Makaba  and  his  Bang- 
waketsi  in  the  shade.  It  was  reported  that  a  strange 
people,  fierce  and  many,  were  slowly  but  steadily 
advancing  from  the  eastward,  eating  up  all  the  tribes 
with  which  they  came  in  contact.  To  those  who 
have  known  the  country  since,  it  must  seem  strange 
that  events  had  been  taking  place  for  months,  and 
even  for  years,  within  the  space  of  a  few  hundred 
miles,  the  knowledge  of  which  had  spread  but  a 
very  little  way.  But  in  those  days  each  tribe  occu- 
pied its  own  locality,  often  separated  from  its  neigh- 
bours by  a  tract  of  uninhabited  country  Occasional 
messengers  might  be  sent  from  one  chief  to  another, 
now  and  then  some  enterprising  person  would  make 
a  journey  for  purposes  of  trade  ;  but  as  often  as  not 
some  act  of  hostility  had  caused  a  break  in  com- 
munications, and  it  might  well  be  that  for  months 
together  tribes  which  were  only  two  or  three 
days'  journey  from  each  other  remained  in  igno- 
rance of  each  other's  affairs,  no  one  being  bold 
enough  to  cross  the  intervening  solitudes  which  in 
the  meantime  were  left  to  the  game  and  to  the  lions. 
That  branch  of  the  Bechwana  race  which  extended 
from  the  junction  of  the  Vaal  and  Orange  rivers  up 
along  the  western  side  of  the  former  stream,  into 
what  is  now  known  as  the  Transvaal,  was  subdivided 
into  numerous  tribes  which  still  recognized  more  or 
less  kinship  to  each  other ;  but  eastward  there  lay 
another  branch  of  the  same  race,  now  known 
generally  as  Basuto  or  Bapedi.      Beyond  these,  and 


RISE  OF  THE  MATEDELZ  POWER.        109 

still  related — all  beinc^  membe^rs  of  the  great  Kafir 
family — but  more  distant  in  kin  as  in  locality^  were 
the  Zulus  and  other  coast  tribes  inhabiting  the 
well- watered  and  fruitful  slopes  of  the  Kwathlamba 
range,  on  the  coast-line  of  South-eastern  Africa. 

.Early  in  the  century  rose  the  tyrant  Chaka,  who 
extended  his  rule  over  all  the  tribes  adjacent  to  his 
own,  and  commenced  a  career  of  conquest.  He 
attacked  one  tribe  after  another,  blotting  them  out, 
unless  they  saved  themselves  by  timely  and  absolute 
submission  or  by  flight.  More  than  one  emigration 
took  place  from  this  cause,  but  the  fugitives  kept 
as  much  as  possible  to  the  mountain  country,  and 
directed  their  course  parallel  with  the  coast.  At 
last  one  of  Chaka's  lieutenants,  himself  the  son  of  a 
chief  whose  power  had  been  broken  by  Chaka,  gave 
offence  to  his  master,  and  sought  safety  in  flight. 
This  was  Umziligazi,  or,  as  the  Bechwanas  called 
him,  Mosilikatse.  He,  with  his  followers,  climbed 
the  Kwathlamba  range,  and  once  upon  the  high  up- 
lands which  now  form  part  of  the  Transvaal,  he 
found  himself  like  a  wolf  among  a  flock  of  sheep. 
Of  the  Bapedi  and  Basuto  tribes  none  could  resist 
him  except  Moshesh,  who,  on  his  mountain  fortress 
of  Thaba  Bosigo,  successfully  defied  the  invaders. 
Meanwhile  the  Bapedi  and  the  Bechwana  tribes 
were  thrown  into  confusion  by  the  onslaughts  of 
the  terrible  Matebele.  Some  tribes  Were  utterly 
destroyed,  others  bowed  the  knee  and  accepted  the 
position  of  vassals,  and  others  again  fled. 

It  was  these  fugitives,  tribes  and  broken  remnants 
of  tribes,  huddled  into  great  hordes,  abandoning 
lands  and  driving  what  they  could  of  their   cattle 


no      MOFFAT  MAKES  A  RECONNAISANCE. 

with  them,  who  came  pouring  on  Hke  a  flood  and 
threatening  to  overwhelm  the  western  Bechwanas, 
who,  if  driven  back,  would  have  had  no  option  but 
to  perish  in  the  foodless  and  waterless  wastes  of 
the  Kalahari.  For  months  the  reports  which  came 
were  vague  and  contradictory,  but  they  gradually 
became  less  shadowy,  and  it  was  evident  that  the 
danger  was  coming  nearer. 

So  little  was  definitely  known,  however,  that 
Robert  Moffat  determined  to  carry  out  his  project 
of  visiting  Makaba,  whose  town  was  about  two 
hundred  miles  to  the  north-east.  Leaving  his  wife 
at  Kuruman,  he  directed  his  course  through  Old 
Lattakoo — or  Letakonof — and  Nokanensf,  at  both  of 
which  places  there  were  sections  of  a  tribe  closely 
connected  with  the  Batlaping.  As  he  advanced  it 
became  more  and  more  certain  that  the  dreaded 
enemy,  known  under  the  general  name  of  Mantatees, 
was  not  far  away.  It  was  resolved  to  continue  the 
journey  as  much  for  the  purpose  of  gaining  infor- 
mation about  these  Mantatees  as  for  anything  else* 
For  some  days  the  travellers  went  on  through  the 
wilderness,  seeing  much  game  and  getting  quite 
accustomed  to  the  neighbourhood  of  lions — seeing  as 
many  of  these,  according  to  the  journal,  as  nine  in 
one  day. 

At  last,  however,  at  a  place  called  Mosite,  they 
received  definite  information  that  the  Mantatees 
were  in  actual  possession  of  the  Barolong  towns,  a 
few  hours  to  the  eastward,  and  that  they  were  on 
their  way  to  Lattakoo.  This  of  course  hurried 
them  back  home,  not  knowing  whether  they  might 
not  find  the  enemy  there  before  them.     No  time 


HE  SEEKS  THE  AID  OF  THE  GRIQUAS.   iti 

was  lost,  A  pul)lic  meeting'  was  called  b)'  the  i.ii^  f 
Moteebe,  who  with  his  people  heartily  ac!<nowleclL;e«.l 
that  but  for  JMoffat's  pertinacity  in  starting  for  the 
north-east  on  a  journey  which  they  had  tried  to 
hinder  him  from  taking,  they  would  not  have  had 
this  timely  warning-  ;  and  the  missionary  was  asked 
for  his  advice  in  the  critical  position  in  which  they 
were  placed. 

He  judged — and  the  event  proved  him  right — that 
the  Batlaping  would  be  no  match  for  the  invaders. 
He  advised  them  to  seek  the  aid  of  the  Griquas, 
who,  though  few,  had  guns  and  horses ;  and  he 
himself  hastened  to  Griqua  Town  and  received  from 
Waterboer  the  promise  that  as  soon  as  he  could 
muster  his  men  he  would  come.  By  the  time  that 
the  Griquas  reached  the  station  the  Mantatees  had 
occupied  Letakong,  thirty-six  miles  away.  It  was 
thought  best  that  Moffat  should  accompany  the  little 
force  of  not  a  hundred  men.  It  was  hoped  that  a 
white  man  might  be  able  to  open  negotiations  with 
the  Mantatees,  and  that  at  all  events  his  presence  as 
a  missionary  might  tend  to  mitigate  the  horrors  of 
war  carried  on  by  people  like  the  Griquas,  only  im- 
perfectly civilized.  Mr.  Melville,  the  Government 
Commissioner  resident  at  Griqua  Town,  was  his 
companion. 

They  rode  to  the  Matlwaring  River,  about  half- 
way. The  chief  Waterboer,  with  the  two  Europeans 
and  about  a  dozen  men,  went  on,  and  spent  the  night 
in  a  clump  of  thorn-trees  a  few  miles  from  Letakong. 
They  proceeded  next  morning,  and  about  ten  o'clock 
came  within  sight  of  the  dreaded  Mantatees.  One 
detachment  held  the  town,  of  which  the  inhabitants 


112       FIRST  SIGHT  OF  THE  MANTATEES. 

h,id  fled.  Another  lay  on  the  hills  to  the  left  of  it, 
presenting  the  appearance  of  a  great  black  patch  as 
contrasted  with  the  light  straw  colour  of  the  grass- 
covereJ  slopes. 

The  horsemen  drew  near,  and  as  they  did  so  they 
could  perceive  a  deal  of  hurrying  to  and  fro,  and 
that  the  catde  were  driven  in  and  enclosed  by  the 
men.  It  was  the  first  time  that  these  people  had 
seen  a  man  on  horseback,  and  at  first  they  naturally 
supposed  that  horse  and  man  were  one  animal. 
This  was  learned  from  some  of  the  prisoners  after- 
wards. In  a  ravine  leading  down  to  the  river 
the  scouting  party  found  a  young  woman  who 
belonged  to  the  Mantatees.  From  her  they  learnt 
nothing,  except  the  fact  that  their  language  was 
only  another  dialect  of  Sechwana.  She  was  sent 
back  to  her  people  with  a  message  of  peace,  but 
nothing  came  of  this.  A  little  farther  on  the  party 
found  an  old  man  with  a  lad  lying  under  the  shadow 
of  a  rock,  the  younger  in  the  last  stage  of  starvation, 
and  the  elder  not  very  much  better.  They  dis- 
mounted in  full  sight  of  the  enemy,  and  stood 
talking  for  some  time  with  the  wretches  whom  they 
had  found,  and  they  gave  the  old  man  some  meat, 
which  he  ravenously  devoured.  Not  finding  any 
way  of  getting  speech  with  the  Mantatees,  who 
would  now  and  aeain  make  a  furious  rush  towards 
them,  hurling  clubs  and  spears,  they  moved  back  to 
a  height  at  some  distance  and  saddled  off,  taking 
their  horses  to  a  pool  of  dirty  water.  Here  they 
found  several  dead  Mantatees,  one  body  lying  partly 
in  the  pool  from  which  they  had  to  drink. 

They  sent  back  for  the  main  force  to  come  on. 


BATTLE  WITH  THE  MANTATEES.        113 

and  spent  the  night  in  this  dangerous  bivouac. 
Next  morning  their  men  came  up,  followed  at  a 
distance  by  the  Batlaping  force.  They  again  ad- 
vanced, and  exhausted  every  resource  to  get  at  the 
enemy  by  v^ay  of  coming  to  an  understanding,  but 
at  last  the  latter  became  more  and  more  fierce  in 
their  rushes,  compelling  the  party  to  retire. 

At  last  Waterboer  raised  his  gun  and  levelled 
one  of  their  boldest  warriors.  It  might  have  been 
thought  that  this  experience  so  new  and  startling 
would  have  had  some  effect,  but  it  had  none  what- 
ever. The  firing  now  commenced,  very  slowly  and 
deliberately,  a  single  shot  at  a  time  ;  and  not  a  shot 
failed  to  tell,  for  the  Griquas  had  to  be  careful,  as 
all  the  ammunition  they  had  amounted  to  about 
a  dozen  rounds  per  man. 

Every  now  and  then  there  was  a  cessation  of  the 
firing  to  give  a  chance  of  negotiation,  but  it  was  to 
no  purpose.  The  Batlaping  now  came  up,  and 
began  playing  upon  them  with  poisoned  arrows,  but 
a  rush  of  a  few  Mantatees  in  their  direction  sent 
them  all  scampering.  After  about  three  hours  the 
Griquas  charged  their  positions,  and  they  gave  way. 
and  eventually  started  in  full  flight  in  the  direction 
from  which  they  had  come.  The  detachment  occu- 
pying the  town,  which  had  taken  no  part  in  the 
engagement,  set  fire  to  the  houses  and  also  started 
in  retreat. 

Then  ensued  a  scene  of  the  wildest  confusion. 
The  houses  burnt  like  straw  ;  an  immense  volume  of 
smoke  rolled  across  the  track  of  the  fugitives  and 
mixed  with  the  dust  of  retreating  thousands — for 
they  were  many  thousands  in  number  ;  the  country 

9 


114    NARROW  ESCAPE  OF  ROBERT  MOFFAT. 

was  covered  with  bands  of  people  fleeing  or  pur- 
suing. True  to  their  cowardly  tactics,  the  Batlaping 
began  to  vent  their  warlike  ardour  on  the  wounded, 
and  on  the  women  and  children  who  could  not  keep 
up  in  the  flight.  This  was  the  most  difficult  and 
dangerous  part  of  the  day  for  Moffat  and  Melville. 
They  could  not  stand  by  and  see  this  going  on 
without  interference.  They  galloped  hither  and 
thither  rescuing  women  and  children  from  the 
human  wolves  who  were  deliberately  slaying  them 
for  the  love  of  killing,  or  to  despoil  their  bodies  of 
such  brass  rings  and  beads  as  they  had  upon  them. 
As  soon  as  the  women  began  to  discover  who  were 
their  protectors,  they  would  rush  frantically  to  them, 
baring  their  breasts  and  crying,  '*  I  am  a  woman  ! 
I  am  a  woman  !  " 

The  wounded  men  were  especially  dangerous,  and 
would  not  be  taken  alive,  stabbing  as  they  lay  on 
the  ground.  Robert  Moffat  has  been  heard  to  tell  of 
one  especial  deliverance  on  this  day — though,  alas,  it 
was  bought  at  a  dear  price.  He  had  got  hemmed 
in  between  a  rocky  height  and  a  body  of  the  enemy. 
There  was  only  a  narrow  passage  through  which  he 
■could  escape  at  full  gallop.  Right  in  the  middle 
of  this  passage  there  rose  up  before  him  a  man  who 
!had  been  shot,  but  had  collected  his  strength,  and, 
weapon  in  hand,  was  awaiting  him.  It  was  almost 
impossible  for  him  to  escape.  Just  at  this  moment 
one  of  the  Griquas,  at  a  long  distance,  took  in  the 
situation  at  a  glance — raised  his  gun,  and  fired. 
The  ball  whizzed  so  close  past  Moffat  that  he 
shuddered  ;  but  it  was  a  true  aim,  and  his  outlet 
.of  escape  was  clear. 


RESULTS  OF  THE  ENGAGEMENT,        115 

This  battle  decided  the  fate  of  the  mission  and 
a  good  deal  more.  The  invaders  retreated,  never 
to  return.  Their  descendants  are  to  be  found,  some 
of  them  in  Basutoland  and  others  in  the  Transvaal. 
Had  they  not  been  checked  by  the  little  body  of 
horsemen  with  guns,  who  proved,  though  few,  such 
terrible  enemies,  they  would  have  swept  away  the 
Batlaping  and  probably  have  poured  into  the  Colony 
— greatly  extending  the  area  of  disturbance,  and 
would  have  been  repelled  with  a  loss  of  life  terrible 
to  think  of,  as  compared  with  the  five  hundred  or 
more  who  fell  at  Letakong. 

Robert  Moffat,  with  the  able  assistance  of  Melville 
and  afterwards  of  Hamilton,  collected  the  women 
and  children  who  remained  behind  in  the  flio-ht. 
These  poor  creatures  had  many  of  them  been 
reduced  to  dire  straits.  At  one  place  a  horse  had 
died  of  snake  bite,  and  had  of  course  swollen  up. 
but  they  fell  upon  it  like  wolves,  and  would  not 
desist  till  every  particle  of  it  had  disappeared.  They 
had  not  only  to  care  for  these  people,  but  on  their 
return  to  the  station,  as  soon  as  the  Griquas  had 
gone  home  the  country  was  full  of  rumours  of  the 
advance  of  other  bodies  of  Mantatees  from  a  dif- 
ferent quarter.  So  serious  did  matters  become  that 
the  missionaries  eventually  saw  it  their  duty  to 
abandon  the  station  for  a  time  and  to  retire  to 
Griqua  Town.  They  carried  away  what  they  could 
of  their  property,  and  buried  the  rest,  and  started 
with  heavy  hearts.  Robert  Moffat,  having  seen 
his  wife  and  children  safely  bestowed,  returned  to 
Lattakoo,  and  remained  a  while  alone. 

These  events  proved  of  great  and  lasting  import- 


ii6     THE  MISSIONARIES  GAIN  INFLUENCE. 

ance  to  the  mission.  The  Batlaping  saw  that  the 
missionaries,  by  their  advice  and  energy,  had  been 
the  means  of  saving  them  from  their  enemies. 
Their  position  was  now  established,  and  though  for 
a  while  there  was  a  lack  of  interest  in  their  message, 
they  themselves  had  gained  a  personal  ascendency 
which  they  never  again  lost. 

At  the  beginning  of  September  Mary  Moffat 
writes  to  her  parents  from  Griqua  Town  : 

"My  dear  Robert  left  me  on  the  6th  ultimo,  having  a 
severe  cold  upon  him,  but  so  anxious  to  be  at  the  post 
of  duty  I  could  not  prevail  upon  him  to  remain  here  till  he 
was  better.  It  was  by  no  means  congenial  to  our  wishes 
to  separate,  but  our  oxen  are  already  too  much  hurried  to 
take  our  goods  back  again  to  Kuruman  before  we  go  to  the 
Cape  ;  and  on  account  of  the  confusion  we  have  been  in 
for  some  months  I  shall  have  time  little  enough  to  prepare 
for  the  journey  to  get  off  at  the  appointed  time,  which  we 
are  anxious  to  do  that  we  may  be  back  in  the  month  of 
March,  that  being  the  best  time  for  the  river, 

"  Robert  is  gone  to  make  another  effort  at  the  language 
before  we  go.  He  writes  me  that  all  our  buried  things  are 
taken  up  in  excellent  order,  but  the  garden  is  completely 
destroyed  by  the  oxen.  Some  of  the  Bechwanas  made 
attempts  at  robbing  the  houses,  but  Moteebe  had  acted 
honourably  ;  and  I  assure  you  it  is  no  little  thing  that 
would  arouse  Moteebe  to  so  much  exertion.  Were  these 
people  idolaters,  I  should  be  afraid  of  them  deifying  Robert 
now — they  are  so  convinced  of  the  interest  he  takes  in 
their  welfare,  from  what  has  lately  transpired.  They  say 
it  would  have  been  easy  for  us  to  decamp,  with  all  belonging 
to  us  ;  but  are  surprised  at  the  promptitude  and  activity 
which  Robert  used  in  warning  the  Griquas  of  the  approach- 
ing danger,  and  thereby  preserving  them  from  enduring 
those  horrors  which  have  come  upon  all  their  neighbours. 
Last  year  we  had  the  pleasure  of  informing  you  of  the 
downfall    of    rainmaking    superstition,    and     now    another 


SUFFERINGS  OF  MISSIONARIES,  it; 

obstacle  is  broken  through  ;  indeed  they  now  seem  to  fear 
denying  Robert  anything. 

"  He  writes  that  he  has  broached  the  subject  of  removing 
the  station,  and  thinks  he  will  succeed.  If  we  get  to  that 
place  it  will  soon  pay  the  expense,  and  save  the  Society 
many  thousands  of  dollars,  and  will  also  be  a  sort  of  maga- 
zine for  provisions  for  infant  stations  in  the  interior.  We 
cannot  but  think  that  a  new  era  is  dawning  on  the  history 
of  this  unhappy,  wretched  country,  and  that  the  late  awful 
events  will  be  overruled  for  the  spread  of  the  glorious 
gospel. 

"We  are  persuaded  that  the  surrounding  tribes  will 
desire  to  have  teachers  after  seeing  the  advantage  that 
Moteebe's  people  have  derived  from  their  connection 
with  them. 

"  Spies  have  been  sent  out  from  this  place  to  ascertain 
the  truth  of  the  report  respecting  the  other  marauding 
tribes  which  were  said  to  be  approaching  from  up  the  river; 
but  it  proves  to  be  a  mere  fabrication.  The  spies  saw  the 
miserable  wretches  with  whom  they  had  fought  at  Lattakoo. 
They  appeared  afraid,  and  made  signs  to  that  effect.  The 
spies  went  amongst  them  and  talked  with  them.  They 
said  all  their  chief  warriors  were  killed,  and  they  desired  to 
return  from  whence  they  came.  Brother  Hodgson  (Wes- 
leyan)  arrived  here  on  the  29th  ult.,  all  well,  having  been 
in  great  danger  from  both  men  and  beasts  of  prey,  lions 
abounding  exceedingly  on  their  road.  He  found  Mr. 
Broadbent  in  a  pitiful  situation.  The  enemy  having  gone  in 
that  direction,  Scbonelo  and  all  his  people  had  fled,  leav- 
ing Mr.  B.  alone.  Even  his  own  servants  went,  except  one 
Bechwana  man.  Providentially,  however,  Mr.  H.  arrived 
when  they  had  been  one  day  in  that  situation.  Mr.  B."s 
waggon  had  come  here  with  Mr.  H.  for  supplies,  so  that 
he  could  not  fly,  being  himself  in  too  weak  a  state  to  walk 
and  Mrs.  B.  having  two  little  ones  such  as  ours. 

"  It  appears  that  the  vanquished  are  fled  in  three  direc- 
tions :  one  party  over  the  river  (Vaal),  which  was  seen  by 
the  spies,  and  the  other  two  keep  the  river  beyond  Sebo- 
nelo's  place.     His  people  find  them  scattered  in  straggling 


ii8  FAMINE  AND  CANNIBALISM. 

parties,  and  kill  them  wherever  they  get  them.  They  ap- 
pear to  be  dying  of  hunger,  and  Mr.  Hodgson  witnessed 
the  -most  horrid  spectacles.  Where  they  stopped  one  night 
the  unhappy  people  had  encamped  the  night  before,  and 
had  left  behind  them  two  women  and  a  man,  who  were 
feeding  on  the  body  of  a  dead  companion  ;  they  were  stamp- 
ing the  bones  to  suck  out  the  marrow !  I  know  you  will 
shudder  when  I  tell  you  that  they  did  it  without  the  least 
emotion.  They  pointed  to  the  mangled  limbs,  and  told 
Mr.  Hodgson  the  name  of  the  man.  Whether  they  are 
cannibals  from  choice  we  are  at  a  loss  to  know  ;  but  I  am 
not  disposed  to  think  they  are,  as  many  Bechwanas  do  die 
of  hunger  when  they  might  get  a  share  with  the  wolf  of 
their  poor  dead  companions.  At  Nokaneng,  Robert  writes, 
there  are  many  women  left  behind,  and  some  wounded 
men.  He  had  proposed  a  plan  to  Andries,  the  chief  of 
this  place,  for  their  rescue  and  preservation  ;  but  I  fear 
it  will  not  be  attended  to,  but  think  R.  will  go  himself  and 
devise  some  plan.  This  is  such  a  hungry  country  that  it 
is  difficult  to  procure  victuals  for  them.  There  is  no  doubt 
whatever  but  that  they  subsist  on  the  dead  bodies  of  such 
as  die  amongst  them.  Oh  the  dark  barbarity  of  this 
wretched  Africa !  When,  oh  when  will  the  Sun  of  right- 
eousness arise  and  disperse  the  heathenish  gloom  1  O  Lord, 
hasten,  and  make  no  tarrying  1  '* 


CHAPTER   XIII. 

IVARS  AND  RUMOURS  OF  WARS. 

1824. 

AT  the  beginning  of  1824  we  find  the  Moffats 
in  Cape  Town.  They  had  gone  thither  for 
the  threefold  object  of  seeking  medical  advice, 
of  obtaining  suppHes,  and  of  conferring  personally 
with  Dr.  Philip  about  the  removal  of  the  station  to 
Kuruman — its  present  site. 

They  had  with  them  Peclo  the  son  of  Mothibi,  a 
young  man  who  gave  good  promise,  and  the  heir- 
apparent  of  the  Batlaping  chieftainship ;  and  Teysho, 
one  of  the  headmen  of  the  tribe.  It  was  an  unusual 
and  striking  proof  of  confidence,  and  spoke  well  for 
the  influence  the  missionaries  had  gained  over  the 
native  mind. 

On  the  very  day  that  the  party  reached  Cape 
Town,  after  more  than  two  months'  journey  from 
Lattakoo,  a  ship  cast  anchor  in  the  bay  bringing 
three  new  men  intended  for  the  Bechwana  Mission. 
The  coincidence  was  pleasing,  but  it  was  a  dis- 
appointment that,  after  all,  only  one  of  the  three, 
Mr.  Huorhes,  was  allowed  at  that  time  to  continue 


120  VISIT  TO  M  ARAB  A. 

his  journey.  Mr.  Edwards  was  detained  in  order 
that  his  skill  as  a  builder  mioht  be  made  available 
at  some  of  the  Colonial  stations,  and  he  did  not 
rc-ach  Kuruman  till  some  years  later  ;  and  Mr.  Rob- 
son's  health  never  allowed  him  to  venture  into  the 
interior.  He  eventually  took  charge  of  a  station 
within  the  Colony,  where  he  did  good  work  for  many 
years. 

The  Moffats  got  back  to  their  station  in  the  month 
of  May,  and  found  Mr.  Hamilton  pursuing  his  lonely 
labours  with  the  quiet  patience  so  characteristic  of 
him.  As  the  final  arrangements  for  the  removal  of 
the  station  were  not  yet  complete,  it  was  thought 
best  that  Robert  Moffat  should  meanwhile  make 
his  long-promised  journey  to  visit  Makaba,  the  chief 
of  the  Bangwaketsi.  He  left  on  the  first  of  July, 
and  was  accompanied  by  a  large  party  of  Griquas, 
who  were  going  to  the  more  remote  part  of  the 
country  to  hunt  elephants.  Rumours  still  continued 
to  come  of  the  movements  of  the  Mantatees  ;  but  so 
difficult  was  it  in  those  times  to  obtain  authentic  in- 
formation of  what  was  going  on  in  the  country  about 
other  tribes,  that  nothing  could  be  certainly  made 
out  about  the  truth  of  these  rumours. 

The  journey  to  Makaba  was  unusually  interesting 
and  eventful.  It  has  been  so  fully  described  by 
Robert  Moffat  himself  in  his  "  Labours  and  Scenes," 
that  it  can  be  lightly  passed  over  here. 

Suffice  to  say  that  the  party — happily  as  it  turned 
out  afterwards — was  a  strong  one,  with  eleven 
waggons  and  a  number  of  horses,  and  well-armed 
men,  they  having  turned  out  for  hunting  purposes. 
They  took  a  westerly  route   along  the  edge  of  the 


ANOTHER  INVASION  REPELLED.         121 

Kalahari  Desert,  but  were  eventually  obliged  by 
want  of  water  to  deviate  and  to  call  at  Pitsana, 
where  a  great  concourse  had  gathered,  consisting 
of  the  different  sections  of  the  Barolong  tribe  who 
had  been  driven  the  previous  year  from  the  country 
along  the  Vaal  River  by  the  Mantatees  in  the  course 
of  the  same  invasion  which  had  threatened  Kuru- 
man. 

From  Pitsana  they  went  on  to  Kvvakwe,  the 
residence  of  Makaba  and  his  people.  Here  they 
were  royally  entertained,  and  started  on  their  return 
journey,  the  greater  part  of  the  Griquas  accompany- 
ing the  missionary,  contrary  to  their  previous  plan 
of  remaining  to  hunt.  Their  leader  could  give  no 
explanation  of  this  except  that  they  had  changed 
their  minds  ;  but  whatever  was  the  cause  of  their 
doing  so,  the  result  was  an  exceedingly  important 
one.  They  had  not  left  Makaba  many  hours  when 
they  were  met  by  messengers  from  Tauane,  the 
chief  of  the  Barolong,  calling  them  to  come  and  help 
him  as  he  was  on  the  point  of  being  attacked  by  the 
Mantatees.  They  went  on  to  Pitsana,  and  found 
that  this  was  actually  the  case.  The  presence  of 
scarcely  twenty  men  armed  with  guns  was  the  means 
of  repelling  an  attack  which  must  otherwise  have 
resulted  in  the  utter  destruction  of  the  great  Barolong 
town  and  the  flight  of  its  inhabitants  into  the  Kala- 
hari Desert,  where  thousands  who  escaped  the  spears 
of  the  ruthless  Makari  must  have  perished  of  thirst 
and  hunger.  As  it  was  the  Barolong  gave  way  and 
took  to  flight,  and  it  was  only  the  effect  of  a  few 
shots  from  the  Griqua  horsemen,  who  stood  their 
ground,  which  turned  the  tide. 


122  MARAUDERS  FROM  THE  WEST, 

Robert  Moffat  sfot  back  home  to  find  that  his  wife 
had  been  in  a  position  of  most  intense  anxiety.  Not 
only  had  she  heard  of  the  Makari  invasion  on  the 
north-east,  which  she  knew  was  in  the  track  of  his 
journey,  but  dangers  were  threatening  from  an  oppo- 
site quarter.  A  horde  of  evil  characters,  runaways  of 
mixed  blood  from  the  Cape  Colony,  with  Korannas, 
Bushmen,  and  Namaquas,  had  established  themselves 
in  the  mountains  to  the  westward  of  Griqua  Town, 
and  had  been  joined  by  renegade  Griquas  who  re- 
sented the  rule  and  discipline  of  Waterboer  and  the 
other  Griqua  chiefs.  These  people  were  carrying  on 
a  series  of  marauding  excursions,  and  had  attacked 
the  Batlaros,  a  tribe  to  the  south-west  of  Kuruman, 
destroying  some  of  their  villages  and  carrying  off 
their  cattle.  They  were  atrociously  cruel ;  they  were 
mounted,  and  armed  with  guns,  and  consequently 
no  Bechwanas  could  stand  against  them.  They  were 
contemplating  a  visit  to  the  Kuruman.  Nothing  but 
strong  faith  and  a  sense  of  duty  kept  Mary  Moffat 
at  her  post  in  this  crisis.  On  one  occasion  so  great 
was  the  alarm  that  she  was  aroused  at  midnight  by 
the  chief.  Mr.  Hamilton,  with  the  men  attached  to 
the  mission,  was  at  the  site  of  the  new  station  about 
eight  miles  away.  All  that  she  could  do  was  to  write 
and  send  a  note  to  him,  and  to  put  a  few  things  to- 
gether so  as  to  be  ready  to  flee  with  her  two  babes 
and  two  little  Bushmen  children  if  it  became  abso- 
lutely necessary. 

In  her  solitude  Mary  Moffat  had  written  and  sent 
off  at  hazard  the  following  letter  on  the  twenty- 
eighth  of  July : 

"  It  is  with  a  faint,  faint  hope  that  you  will  ever  see  this, 


MARY  MOFFAT  IN  A  LONELY  SITUATION.  123 

that  I  take  up  my  pen,  it  being  so  very  improbable  that 
you  will  meet  with  the  Barolong  who  take  it  ;  but  the 
possibility  of  such  a  thing  compels  me  not  to  neglect  the 
opportunity,  anxious  as  I  am  to  convey  to  your  affectionate 
heart  tidings  of  our  welfare.  Our  covenant  God  has 
graciously  protected  us  and  all  about  us  ever  since  you  left  ; 
and  I  have  strong  confidence  that  He  has  also  been  with 
you.  But  oh,  my  dear,  I  find  it  requires  the  exercise  of 
some  fortitude  to  be  calm  and  serene  under  such  a  separa- 
tion, in  such  circumstances  and  at  such  a  time  in  a  land  of 
barbarians.  In  vain  has  my  heart  fluttered  when  I  have 
seen  a  strange  face,  hoping  he  would  pull  out  from  under 
his  kaross  a  letter,  no  post  yet  having  arrived  from  you,  and 
I  begin  to  think  that  I  must  not  have  that  exquisite  plea- 
sure till  the  living  epistle  burst  in  upon  me  himself  You 
know  I  dreaded  your  departure  exceedingly.  I  had  many 
fears  about  your  health  from  that  ugly  cough.  I  had  also 
fears  on  account  of  the  tumultuous  state  of  the  land.  I 
expected  also  to  suffer  a  good  deal  myself  from  low  spirits 
in  my  great  solitude,  but  in  this  I  was  mistaken,  having 
been  remarkably  composed  and  very  seldom  in  a  melan- 
choly mood.  When  I  feel  it  coming  on  I  make  great 
efforts  to  dispel  it,  and  have  been  successful.  I  feel  very 
thankful  for  the  support  I  have  had,  and  derive  encourage- 
ment from  it  that  all  is  well  with  you,  and  that  your 
journey  is  under  the  smiles  of  our  Heavenly  Father.  I 
have  also  great  liberty  at  the  throne  of  grace,  for  you  and 
the  cause  of  Christ. 

"  Our  dear  little  Mary  and  Ann  are  well.  Mr.  Hamilton 
is  also  well.  He  took  away  most  of  his  goods  yesterday 
and  many  trees,  but  will  come  as  usual  on  Saturday  till 
you  return.  Mr.  Hughes  has  not  yet  come,  nor  do  we  hear 
anything  from  them.  About  ten  days  after  your  departure 
two  hastily  written  notes  from  Mr.  Helm  to  Mr.  Hamilton 
arrived,  bearing  different  dates,  the  last  of  them  the  6th 
inst.,  saying  that  an  immense  body  of  Mantatees  was 
rapidly  approaching  Griqua  Town,  that  the  Koranna 
Mission  was  destroyed,  that  Mr.  Edwards  had  been  to  call 
a  commando,  that  Edwards  and  Melville  were  gone  out 


124  CONTINUED  COMMOTIONS. 

with  the  Griquas  and  had  been  three  days  away.  Borumelo 
is  since  come  from  Campbell,  and  says  that  they  were  not 
yet  returned,  but  had  sent  for  a  fresh  supply  of  ammunition, 
and  had  also  sent  to  Mr.  Stockenstrom  for  help.  The 
Mantatces  were  not  the  same  people  who  fought  at  Old 
Lattakoo.  You  will  easily  conceive  how  I  felt  with  regard 
to  you,  but  was  enabled  in  the  confidence  of  faith  to  com- 
mend you  to  our  covenant  God.  The  idea  of  any  of  them 
on  their  return  falling  in  with  your  single  waggon  is  truly 
shocking. 

"  Since  you  left,  Jacob  Cloete,  with  a  number  of  armed 
Korannas  on  horses,  besides  a  number  of  Bushmen,  has 
been  making  terrible  ravages  at  a  town  beyond  Lehaise's, 
has  taken  a  great  number  of  cattle,  killed  eight  chiefs, 
besides  others  and  women  and  children.  By  all  accounts 
he  has  acted  most  barbarously  ;  the  people  here  were  much 
alarmed,  as  he  threatened  to  come  here  to  get  powder.  Of 
course  I  had  some  fears,  but  am  happy  to  say  he  has  gone 
back  to  his  place.  ... 

"  I  know  you  will  excuse  the  brevity  of  this  letter  when 
you  reflect  on  the  uncertainty  of  getting  it.  I  will  promise 
the  man  a  few  beads  if  he  bring  it  to  you,  as  well  as 
tobacco." 

On  Robert  Moffat's  return  things  had  settled 
down  a  little,  but  only  for  a  time.  The  marauders 
began  to  repeat  their  operations.  The  Batlaros 
appealed  to  their  neighbours  the  Batlaping  for  help. 
The  latter  sent  out  a  party,  but,  heathen-like,  instead 
of  joining  hands  with  their  own  kindred  in  repelling 
the  common  enemy,  they  took  the  opportunity  to 
carry  off  a  large  quantity  of  cattle  belonging  to  the 
Batlaros.  From  this  time  things  went  from  bad 
to  worse.  The  missionaries  had  moved  to  the  new 
station,  but  they  had  scarcely  done  so  when  the 
Batlaping  whom  they  had  left  at  the  lower  place 
were  attacked,  not  only  by  the  marauders,  but  by 


MR.  HAMILTON'S  HOUSE  IS  BURNED.     125 

the  Batlaros,  who  might  have  been  their  friends  but 
for  their  own  folly. 

So  general  was  the  confusion,  that  a  second  time 
did  the  missionaries  find  it  necessary  to  take  refuge 
at  Griqua  Town,  where  we  find  them  at  the  end  of 
the  year. 

In  July,  during  her  husband's  absence  in  the 
interior,  Mary  Moffat  had  written  : 

"  I  feci  my  solitude  very  much,  Mr.  Hamilton  having 
removed  to  the  new  station  to  build  himself  a  house,  and 
has  the  men  with  him.  They  come  home,  however,  on  Satur- 
day evenings  and  stop  Sabbaths  over  ;  but  trying  as  it  is,  I 
feel  a  satisfaction  in  sacrificing  my  dear  husband's  company 
when  I  reflect  that  it  is  for  the  cause  of  Christ,  and  I  feel 
persuaded  that  these  journeys  into  the  interior  are  of 
enormous  importance  to  the  kingdom  of  our  Lord,  as  they 
prepare  the  way  for  the  spread  of  the  gospel.  Poor  Mr. 
Hamilton  is  heavily  afflicted.  Whilst  he  was  away  at 
Griqua  Town  last  October,  his  whole  premises  were  burnt 
to  ashes.  The  Bechwanas  were,  however,  active  in  endea- 
vouring to  save  his  property,  and  succeeded  pretty  well, 
but  it  may  be  easily  conceived  that  his  loss  was  consider- 
able." 

After  detailinof  the  alarminpf  rumours  from  the 
north-east,  she  goes  on  to  say  : 

"  Since  we  came  home  the  Bushmen  took  at  one  time  fifty 
head  of  cattle  from  the  post  of  one  of  our  chiefs,  but  we  do 
not  hear  that  they  are  projecting  a  commando  against 
them.  We  now  hear  that  the  Batlaros  to  the  westward  of 
us  arc  visited  by  a  company  of  depredators,  joined  by 
some  rebel  Griquas,  and  they  have  taken  the  poor  people's 
cattle.  I  cannot  vouch  for  the  truth  of  this  report ;  but  a 
man  was  here  yesterday  who  said  he  heard  the  firing  of 
the  guns.  Thus  you  see  we  are  surrounded  on  every  hand. 
It  requires  'some  little  fortitude  to  live  at  rest  in  such  a 


126        THE  MISERIES  OF  HEATHENISM. 

tumultuous  land,  amidst  barbarians,  but  we  trust  that  *  He 
who  hath  delivered  will  deliver.' 

"  How  truly  descriptive  of  the  natives  of  this  country  is 
the  prophecy,  '  His  hand  shall  be  against  every  man,  and 
every  man's  hand  shall  be  against  him.'  And  if  we  will 
allow  ourselves  to  reflect  on  the  train  of  miseries  which 
such  a  mode  of  life  brings  with  it,  how  conclusively  may 
we  argue  against  that  vain  philosophy  which  declaims 
against  the  efforts  of  missionaries  in  such  a  country  by 
saying  that  the  natives  live  a  quiet,  harmless,  and  peaceable 
life,  attending  to  their  flocks  and  herds,  and  know  nothing 
of  the  miseries  of  refined  society.  Oh  how  futile  are  such 
reasonings  !  When  I  allow  myself  to  conceive  of  the  feel- 
ings of  the  natives  of  this  wretched  country  in  their  most 
elevated  state,  I  shudder.  Methinks  the  condition  of  the 
very  beasts  is  enviable  in  comparison  of  theirs.  They 
know  that  they  must  die,  and  the  dread  idea  of  annihila- 
tion strikes  them  through  like  a  barbed  arrow.  To  talk  of 
death  makes  them  almost  frantic. 

"  The  hundreds  who  perish  annually  from  hunger  in  this 
state  of  society  is  another  argument  against  such  reasonings, 
and  a  convincing  proof  that  even  feelings  of  common  philan- 
thropy would  induce  many  to  exert  themselves  even  for 
the  temporal  good  of  these  sons  of  humanity.  Horror  and 
devastation  reign  over  the  whole  land,  darkness  covers  it, 
and  gross  darkness  the  people.  The  longer  we  live  in  it 
the  more  convinced  we  are  of  the  necessity  of  missionaries 
being  here,  being  fully  persuaded  that  it  is  only  the  gospel 
of  peace  which  can  raise  the  degenerate  sons  of  Adam. 
How  transcendently  blessed  will  those  missionaries  be  who 
live  to  see  the  thick  gloom  which  covers  them  dispelled  by 
the  beams  of  the  Sun  of  righteousness.  I  scarcely  expect 
to  witness  it  myself,  but  feel  confident  that  the  time  will 
come,  because  the  promises  of  Jehovah  are  yea  and  amen 
in  Christ  Jesus.  It  is  not  conferring  with  flesh  and  blood 
to  live  amongst  these  people.  In  the  natives  of  South 
Africa  there  is  nothing  naturally  engaging  ;  their  extreme 
selfishness,  filthiness,  obstinate  stupidity,  and  want  of  sensi- 
bility, have  a  tendency  to  disgust,  and  sometimes  cause  the 


ENCOURAGING  CONDITIONS.  127 

mind  to  shrink  from  the  idea  of  spending  the  Avhole  life 
amongst  them,  far  from  every  tender  and  endearing  circle. 
But  when  we  recollect  that  the  Saviour  of  men  has  said, 
'  Deny  thyself,  take  up  thy  cross  and  follow  me,'  we  blush 
for  harbouring  such  a  feeling.  He  left  the  heaven  of 
heavens,  the  bosom  of  His  Father,  to  carry  through  a  life 
of  unparalleled  suffering,  ignominy,  and  scorn  on  this  base 
and  sinful  earth.  Oh  how  imperfectly  do  we  follow  Him  ! 
Pray  for  us  that  we  may  have  grace  ever  to  keep  His 
example  in  view. 

"  At  present  there  is  no  appearance  of  a  work  of  grace 
among  the  Bechwanas.  As  may  be  expected,  they  are 
very  friendly,  and  consider  themselves  privileged.  They 
are  by  no  means  unanimous  about  going  with  'us,  but  we 
believe  many  will  go  at  least  next  year,  as  we  advise  them 
not  to  go  till  the  water  ditch  is  made. 

"  Peclo  was  received  with  loud  and  joyful  acclamations, 
and  Teysho  and  he  have  made  the  people  wonder  with 
their  accounts.  We  are  confident  their  visit  to  the  Cape 
will  have  a  good  effect." 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

FAMILY  BEREAVEMENTS. 
1825. 

ARLY  in  1825  the  immediate  danger  seemed 
to  have  passed,  and  the  Moffats,  accompanied 
by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hughes,  rejoined  Mr.  Hamil- 

who  had  remained  throughout  at  his  lonely 
The  western  banditti  had  for  the  time  retired. 
Though  the  noise  of  war  had  ceased  in  their  own 
neighbourhood,  yet  elsewhere  a  spirit  of  madness 
seemed  to  have  seized  on  all  the  interior  tribes. 
Wasting  and  destruction  were  the  order  of  the  day 
eastward  and  northward.  Tribes  of  the  same  cha- 
racter, and  in  similar  circumstances  to  those  who 
had  been  called  Mantatees,  roved  about,  carrying 
terror  and  devastation  through  wide  reo;ions.  Even 
the  hitherto  invincible  Makaba  had  been  overcome 
and  slain,  and  his  Bangwaketsi  were  scattered  far  and 
wide  ;  but  there  was  at  all  events  a  lull  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  Kuruman. 

Once  more  the  missionaries  took  heart,  and  com- 
menced laying  out  the  new  station.  They  raised 
three    temporary    dwellings,    each    consisting    of    a 


THE  BATLAPING  DESERT  KURUMAN.     129 

wooden  framework  filled  up  with  reeds  cut  from  the 
adjacent  valley,  and  plastered  within  and  without  ; 
and  they  meanwhile  laid  the  foundations  of  more 
permanent  dwellings. 

But  their  troubles  were  not  yet  over.  The  young 
chief  Peclo  died  suddenly,  and  his  death  scattered 
to  the  winds  many  bright  hopes  which  the  mission- 
aries had  entertained  of  what  might  have  been  done 
by  his  means.  Again  a  cloud  came  up  from  the 
west  in  the  shape  of  a  band  of  marauders.  They 
were  a  part  of  those  who  had  come  before,  but 
greatly  reduced  in  numbers.  Few  as  they  were, 
however,  their  boldness  and  their  possession  of  guns 
and  horses  made  them  irresistible.  The  Batlaping 
at  the  old  station  gave  way  before  them,  losing 
nearly  all  their  cattle.  The  roving  band  drew  near  to 
the  Kuruman  itself,  but  the  missionaries  had  deter- 
mined this  time  to  hold  their  ground  ;  and  the 
marauders  retired,  and  again  they  were  left  in  peace 
to  carry  on  their  labours.  Unhappily  the  Batlaping 
could  not  be  prevailed  upon  to  return  to  their 
deserted  town.  They  drifted  away  eastward,  and 
eventually  settled  down  on  the  Hart  or  Kolong 
River,  where  the  bulk  of  the  tribe  has  remained 
until  now  ;  the  greater  part  of  what  remains  now 
being  under  Mankoroane,  a  nephew  of  Mothibi. 

The  missionaries  found  themselves  surrounded  by 
a  much  reduced  population,  though  probably  more 
amenable  to  their  influence,  as  those  who  remained 
did  so  for  the  most  part  from  confidence  inspired  by 
their  presence.  Meanwhile  the  Mofifats  themselves 
were  called  to  mourn  over  the  death  of  a  little  boy, 
who  only  lived  five  days.      In  the  month  of  October 

10 


130    DEATH  OF  MARY  MOFFATS  MOTHER. 

the  mother  of  Mary  Moffat  passed  away,  after  some 
years  of  declining  health.  She  had  done  her  work 
at  home,  and  had  the  blessing;-  and  comfort  of  having 
a  daughter  like-minded  in  the  missionary  field,  and 
of  being  present  a  few  months  before  her  death  at 
the  ordination  of  her  son,  and  his  induction  into  the 
charge  of  a  church  at  Hulme,  which  he  afterwards 
gave  up  in  order  to  go  to  Madras  as  a  missionary. 

She  died  early  in  October.  In  April  of  the  fol- 
lowing year  her  daughter  received  the  news,  so 
slow  were  the  means  of  communication  then.  She 
writes  as  follows  to  her  father  : 

"  The  account  of  my  dear  mother's  heavy  bodily  afflic- 
tion distresses  us  much,  but  to  hear  at  the  same  time  of  the 
consolations  of  the  gospel  being  so  abundantly  supplied 
causes  the  voice  of  joy  and  praise  to  be  heard  in  our  taber- 
nacle ;  and  though  the  event  of  her  death  will  be  inex- 
pressibly painful  to  us,  the  bitterness  of  the  stroke  will  be  in 
no  small  degree  mitigated  by  having  heard  of  the  bright- 
ness of  her  evidences  and  her  comfortable  experience  of 
the  efficacy  of  the  blood  of  Christ." 

She  writes  again  in  June  : 

"  It  is  with  mingled  feelings  of  sorrow  and  gratitude  that 
I  retire  from  the  bustle  of  my  domestic  cares  to  write  to 
you  once  more  :  sorrow  that  you  are  now  alone,  and  that 
the  endearing  name  of  mother  is  no  longer  united  with 
that  of  father,  and  gratitude  that  I  have  still  yourself  to 
address,  and  trust  that  the  great  Disposer  of  all  events  will 
continue  to  spare  your  life  for  a  few  years  longer ;  but 
these  repeated  strokes  teach  us  not  to  set  our  hearts  too 
much  on  any  earthly  object. 

"  My  dear  Moffat  and  myself  were  for  thirty  years  ex- 
empted from  such  bereaving  dispensations  ;  the  commence- 
ment was  at  length  made  with  the  beloved  offspring  of  our 
own  bodies  :  and  what  is  very  remarkable,  Robert's  elder 


MOFFATS  BROTHER  ALEXANDER.       131 

brother  Alexander  died  within  ten  days  of  my  ever-beloved 
mother — we  received  the  accounts  of  both  their  deaths  by 
the  same  post,  and  you  will  judge  of  our  feelings  on  the 
occasion.  For  my  own  part,  with  regard  to  my  dear 
mother,  I  was  long  before  I  could  in  any  degree  feel  recon- 
ciled to  her  approaching  dissolution,  though  for  more  than 
two  years  I  have  opened  every  letter  with  a  palpitating 
heart,  expecting  the  painful  intelligence  that  would  at  once 
blast  the  feeble  hope  which  was  sometimes  cherished  of 
again  beholding  her  in  the  flesh.  I  never  felt  anything 
like  resignation  till  I  heard  how  repeatedly  and  heavily  she 
was  afflicted,  and  how  happily  she  was  prepared  for  the 
last  remove.  I  felt  that  it  was  cruelly  selfish  to  wish  her 
to  live  :  when  I  say  selfish  you  must  not  suppose  that  I 
did  not  consider  you,  my  dear  father,  for  my  heart  does 
testify  that  this  was  the  last  struggle  in  my  feelings,  a  con- 
sideration of  your  desolate  condition,  when  she  should  be 
called  to  leave  you  in  this  vale  of  tears,  knowing  how 
uncommonly  happily  you  have  lived  together,  and  sensible 
that  the  widowed  life  would  be  comparatively  dreary. 

"  May  the  God  of  all  grace  grant  you  consolations  equal 
to  the  loss  you  have  sustained,  and  enable  you  to  pursue 
your  earthly  course  with  Christian  cheerfulness." 

Moffat's  brother  Alexander,  mentioned  above,  was 
a  man,  to  judge  from  his  letters,  of  great  talent,  but 
his  life  w^as  marred  by  a  want  of  purpose  and  of  the 
devotion  which  inspired  his  missionary  brother.  He 
had  been  a  soldier  in  the  East  India  Company's 
service,  but  had  come  home  invalided,  to  die. 

It  had  been  hoped  that  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hughes 
would  be  a  permanent  addition  to  the  band  at 
Kuruman  ;  but  the  health  of  the  former  suffered  so 
much  from  the  excessive  heat  that  he  had  to  seek 
change,  and  after  a  time  he  became  attached  to  the 
Griqua  Mission,  in  which  he  remained  till  the  close 
of  his  life  in  1870. 


132     COMMENCEMENT  OF  A  LITERATURE. 

About  this  time  Robert  Moffat  commenced  his 
first  regular  efforts  towards  laying  the  foundation  of 
a  Sechwana  literature.  A  spelling-book  was  pre- 
pared, and  sent  to  the  Cape  to  be  printed. 


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CHAPTER  XV. 

mOGRESS  ON  THE  NE IV  STATION. 
1826. 

IN  the  year  1826  things  settled  down,  and  some 
steady  progress  was  made  in  the  work  of  lay- 
ing-out the  station.  The  Hottentots  who 
had  come  from  Bethelsdorp  to  assist  in  public 
manual  labour  were,  however,  so  disgusted  with  the 
country,  the  continual  war  alarms,  and  the  scarcity 
of  supplies — for  war  had  brought  famine  in  its  train 
— that  they  returned  to  the  Colony  ;  and  as  the 
Bechwanas  knew  little  about  work,  the  missionaries, 
with  their  assistant  Mr.  Millen,  had  to  depend 
mainly  upon  themselves.  Though  their  days  were 
thus  spent  in  hard  labour,  they  yet  managed  to  give 
attention  to  the  language,  and  to  religious  services — 
which  were  held  as  usual,  but  with  little  result  as 
yet.  Such  of  the  Batlaping  as  had  not  moved  away 
to  the  eastward  had  settled  down  about  the  Kuru- 
man  valley ;  and  did  not  oppose,  though  they  made 
no  response  to,  the  efforts  which  were  directed  to 
impress  upon  them  the  gospel  message. 
In  April  Mary  Moffat  writes : 


134    RESCUE  OF  A  CHILD  BURIED  ALIVE. 

"  By  an  especial  providence  a  very  young  child  was  com- 
mitted to  my  care.  One  Sabbath  morning  while  preparing 
for  church,  some  of  our  children  brought  in  a  report  that 
a  child  was  heard  crying  among  the  stones  on  the  side  of 
the  hill  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  from  the  house.  We 
immediately  set  off  to  the  spot.  Moffat  and  Mr.  Millen 
arrived  there  before  me,  and  heard  its  cries  but  could  see 
nothing.  At  length  they  discovered  the  poor  babe  literally 
buried  alive  and  covered  with  stones.  At  this  moment 
I  arrived,  and,  as  you  will  easily  conceive,  was  dreadfully 
shocked.  The  inhuman  mother  had  pulled  out  stones  to 
make  a  hole  sufficient  for  its  little  body,  and  then  put  it 
in  and  laid  upon  it  one  huge  stone,  the  corner  of  which 
rested  on  its  little  nose  and  made  a  severe  wound.  Its 
limbs  were  sadly  bruised  with  kicking  about,  and  its  eyes 
all  bleared  with  the  cold.  I  took  it  up  and  brought  it  home, 
fed  and  washed  it  and  dressed  its  wounds,  to  the  great 
astonishment  of  the  natives.  They  viewed  it  with  indif- 
ference ;  said  the  mother  was  a  rascal,  but  wondered  much 
that  we  should  love  so  poor  an  object.  It  was  only  about 
five  weeks  old,  but  very  small,  like  one  new  born.  It  ap- 
peared that  the  monstrous  mother,  assisted  by  her  own 
mother,  had  committed  it  to  its  cold  tomb  about  four 
■o'clock  the  day  before,  where  it  remained  the  whole  night 
till  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning  when  we  found  it.  It  was 
•amazing  that  it  still  lived,  as  it  had  rained  hard  and  there 
was  not  an  inch  of  covering  about  it ;  and  still  more  that 
the  wolf  had  not  got  it,  as  a  wolf  will  tear  a  dead  body  out 
•of  the  grave  if  not  well  secured.  The  mother  was  an  object 
■of  charity,  and  had  been  in  the  habit  of  getting  food  from 
us.  Only  the  day  before  I  gave  her  a  piece  of  beef  for 
a  small  bundle  of  firewood  merely  out  of  pity,  and  to  her 
mother  the  very  day  on  which  the  crime  was  committed. 
She  had  reported  that  her  child  was  dead,  but  when  she 
heard  that  we  had  made  the  discovery  both  she  and  her 
mother  fled  to  another  part  of  the  country.  Thus  you  see 
I  have  an  addition  to  my  cares  ;  and  as  I  knew  no  one  to 
whom  I  could  entrust  it  as  wet  nurse,  I  began  and  carried 
'on  with  the  spoon  till  I  was  no  longer  able  to  do  it  on 


THE  CHARGE  OF  TRADING  IN  IVORY.     135 

account  of  my  late  trial,  when  I  engaged  a  good-natured 
Hottentot,  the  wife  of  one  of  the  men,  to  take  it  for  a  time, 
for  which  I  pay  her  liberally,  the  food  and  clothing  coming 
regularly  from  myself.  It  is  coming  on  very  well,  and  is 
considered  a  very  pretty  child.  The  remarkable  way  in 
which  it  has  been  brought  into  our  family  led  us  at  once 
to  adopt  it  as  our  own,  and  we  have  accordingly  offered  it 
in  baptism  a  month  ago,  and  named  her  Sarah  Roby.  You 
may  tell  Mrs.  Roby  that  it  was  our  intention,  had  our  last 
dear  babe  been  a  girl  and  lived,  to  have  given  her  name  ; 
and  as  we  may  never  have  another,  we  have  given  it  to 
this  child  of  Providence.  I  assure  you  I  have  strong 
inducements  (independent  of  the  common  feeling  of 
humanity)  to  pay  the  strictest  attention  to  the  welfare  of 
a  little  infant  whose  life  has  been  so  singularly  spared.  I 
feci  habitually  as  if  I  had  a  command  from  God  Himself 
to  nurse  the  child  for  Him.  And  may  I  be  enabled  to  do 
it  as  to  glorify  His  holy  name." 

The  following  quotation  from  a  letter  written  by 
Mr.  Melville  to  a  friend  in  E norland  deals  with  a 
subject  of  some  importance,  so  far  as  it  has  been 
made  a  means  of  casting  a  slur  upon  the  dis- 
interestedness of  missionaries.  Mr.  Melville  had 
spent  several  years  at  Griqua  Town  as  Govern- 
ment Commissioner,  and  was  in  a  good  position  to 
speak  with  authority  about  matters  of  this  kind. 

"  As  some  calumnious  reports  have  been  circulated  re- 
specting the  elephants'  teeth  sent  to  Cape  Town  by  Moffat, 
I  think  it  necessary  to  state  the  facts  which  gave  rise  to 
them,  that  you  may  be  enabled  to  counteract  any  such 
reports  which  may  reach  the  ears  of  the  Directors.  The 
truth  is  this.  Moffat  sent  a  few  elephants'  teeth  with  two 
waggons  that  went  last  year  to  Cape  Town.  The  waggons 
were,  however,  chiefly  laden  with  ivory  belonging  to  several 
persons.  Five  hundred  and  eighty  pounds,  I  well  know, 
belonged  to  a  runaway  slave  who  sent  the  ivory  to  pur- 


136     SMALL  STIPENDS  OF  MISSIONARIES. 

chase  his  freedom  ;  one  of  the  Griquas  I  know  purchased 
a  new  waggon  for  606  dollars,  being  the  proceeds  of  what 
he  took  to  town  in  the  same  waggon  ;  and  several  other 
individuals  also  sent  ivory  by  the  same  conveyance.  As 
Moffat  had  to  manage  the  business  of  the  sale  of  the  ivory 
of  the  slave  through  his  agent,  and  having  sent  a  small 
quantity  of  his  own,  som.e  person  either  ignorantly  or 
maliciously  spread  a  report  that  he  had  sent  two  thousand 
pounds  of  ivory  to  town.  I  don't  think  there  is  a  mis- 
sionary in  the  country  more  disinterested  than  Moffat ;  and 
from  my  knowledge  of  the  circumstances,  nothing  but 
necessity  induced  him  to  send  a  little  ivory  to  town  to  pay 
his  debts." 

This  is  a  matter  which  has  been  much  spoken 
about  in  South  Africa,  and  vv^herever  there  are  people 
disposed  to  cast  a  stone  at  the  missionary  enterprise. 
In  the  early  days  missionaries  were  expected  to 
prove  their  devotion  by  leaving  home  and  friends 
and  going  to  live  among  repulsive  barbarians  on 
stipends  utterly  unequal  to  their  needs.  The  sums 
which  were  then  paid  to  missionaries  were  such  that 
the  contemplation  of  them  now  raises  a  smile.  It 
was  no  laughing  matter,  however,  for  them. 

When,  therefore,  a  missionary  could,  by  rendering 
a  service,  by  dint  of  his  medical  knowledge  or  me- 
chanical skill,  he  could  not  be  blamed  for  being 
willing  to  accept  in  return  some  kind  of  a  thank- 
offering.  This  might  be  a  sheep,  which  would 
supply  his  family  with  meat  for  a  few  days,  or  it 
might  be  a  tusk  of  ivory  or  a  kaross.  But  for  as- 
sistance of  this  kind,  it  is  doubtful  whether  the 
pittance  on  which  these  men  were  expected  to  hold 
their  ground,  and  to  fight  a  heartbreaking  battle  in  a 
heathen  country,  would  have  kept  them  alive.    Some 


AGED  MISSIONARIES  AND  WIDOWS.       137 

men  succumbed  to  the  additional  trial  to  which  their 
constancy  was  exposed,  and  there  are  instances  on 
record  of  missionaries  who  became  eventually  traders 
or  farmers,  to  the  detriment  or  utter  forsaking  of 
their  spiritual  work. 

These,  however,  were  the  exceptions.  Most  men 
added  to  their  many  missionary  cares  and  labours 
the  duty  of  eking  out  a  livelihood  for  themselves 
and  their  families,  and  did  so  without  their  love  and 
zeal  waxing  cold.  That  their  efficiency  was  de- 
creased by  this  additional  weight  on  their  hands 
there  is  no  room  to  doubt,  but  they  did  what  they 
could,  and  what  was  necessary,  w  th  no  thought  of 
laying  by  for  their  children  or  even  for  their  own 
old  age  ; — though,  as  all  the  world  knows,  there  is  no 
more  conspicuous  example  of  the  meanness  and  want 
of  right  feeling  which  may  be  displayed  by  a  board 
or  committee,  even  when  composed  of  kind-hearted 
and  Christian  men  individually,  than  that  which  we 
see  in  the  dealings  of  missionary  boards  with  super- 
annuated missionaries  or  their  widows.  The  Editor 
can  speak  with  the  more  freedom  about  this  matter, 
because  his  father  met  with  an  exceptional  lot  and 
is  entirely  out  of  the  case.  With  reference  to  the 
working  stipends  of  missionaries,  in  most  cases  these 
matters  are  better  understood  than  they  used  to  be, 
and  the  effort  is  now  made  to  put  matters  on  a  right 
footing,  and  so  to  sustain  men  that  they  may  have 
nothing  to  think  of  but  the  work  they  have  to  do  : 
but  as  to  aged  missionaries  and  their  widows,  the 
Church  has  still  its  duty  to  learn. 

Mary  Moffat  writes  to  her  father  in  September, 
1826: 


138  HARD  MANUAL  LABOUR  UNAVOIDABLE. 

"  As  regards  the  present,  I  must  add  that  I  never  enjoyed 
an  equal  share  of  health  in  similar  circumstances.  It 
appears  that  I  am  really  improving,  and  could  I  regain  my 
strength  should  be  as  well  as  in  my  native  land  ;  but  the 
Lord  knows  best  what  is  good  for  me.  Through  His 
blessing  Robert  has  enjoyed  excellent  health,  but  has  been 
terribly  harassed  with  hard  manual  labour.  Our  Bethelsdorp 
Hottentots  having  left  us,  it  falls  heavily  on  Hamilton  and 
Moffat,  especially  as  our  house  has  been  building.  It  is, 
however,  within  a  few  days  of  being  finished,  when  he 
intends  leaving  the  public  work  entirely  —  the  smith's 
excepted,  because  nobody  else  can  do  it— and  applying 
closely  to  study.  Mr.  Millen,  not  being  able  to  go  on  for 
want  of  labourers  with  the  masonry,  has  made  a  journey  to 
the  Molopo  and  bartered  for  ivory,  with  which  he  is  gone 
to  Algoa  Bay,  and  will  return  immediately  to  finish  his 
work.  We  have  at  present  only  one  effective  man,  a  Hot- 
tentot, all  the  rest  being  Bechwanas,  with  whom  it  may 
easily  be  conceived  it  is  difficult  to  get  on.  One  of  our 
Hottentots  was,  three  months  ago,  severely  wounded  by  a 
buffalo,  and  it  remains  doubtful  if  he  will  ever  recover  so  as 
to  be  able  to  work. 

"  You  may  form  some  idea  of  what  missionaries  have  to 
put  their  hands  to  when  I  tell  you  that  Robert  was  a  fort- 
night every  day  up  to  the  middle  in  water  cutting  thatch 
for  the  house.  We  promise  ourselves  the  pleasure  of  writ- 
ing to  all  the  friends  to  whom  we  are  indebted  when  we 
get  settled  in  our  new  house,  which  is  a  very  comfortable 
one,  and  will  be  a  treasure  to  the  Society  in  this  barbarous 
land.  The  design  is  to  build  another  good  house  and  a 
chapel,  when  I  think  every  one  will  be  heartily  tired  of 
building ;  but  they  will  be  permanent,  and  not  require 
rebuilding  every  few  years  like  our  reed  houses,  as  well  as 
more  conducive  to  the  health  of  Europeans. 

"  As  to  the  Bechwanas,  I  am  sorry  to  say  that  they  are 
much  as  usual,  equally  careless  about  spiritual  things,  and 
evidently  as  much  attached  to  their  old  superstitions. 
They  have  built  large  villages  along  the  valley,  and  are 
very  busy  cultivating  their  ground  ;  but  a  temptation  has 


MR.  WRIGHT  AT  GRIQUA  TOWN.         139 

lately  fallen  in  their  way  which  was  too  powerful  for  them 
to  resist  :  a  rainmaker  from  a  distant  country  to  the  south- 
east, has  made  his  appearance  and  offered  his  services, 
which  they  have  accepted  ;  and  he  is  now  exerting  himself 
to  the  utmost.  We  have  had  two  showers  since  he  came, 
and  this  has  of  course  strengthened  their  faith.  He  says 
our  houses  will  be  washed  away  before  the  season  is  past. 
They  keep  him  away  from  us  as  much  as  possible,  evi- 
dently ashamed  of  having  turned  again  to  this  folly.  We 
sometimes  think  he  is  a  Mantatee  spy,  as  he  very  much 
resembles  those  people. 

"  Mr.  Wright,  whom  you  know,  has  at  length  arrived  at 
Griqua  Town,  and  is  actively  engaged.  He  appears  to  be 
making  a  stir  among  the  people,  and  especially  in  the 
school.  It  is  now  three  months  since  he  came,  and  we 
trust  the  interest  excited  will  continue  and  increase.  We 
ardently  long  to  hear  of  good  doing  somewhere  in  South 
Africa,  for  wherever  we  turn  our  attention  in  this  miserable 
country  we  hear  of  no  spiritual  work." 

The  Mr.  Millen  thus  mentioned  was  not  in  the  regu- 
lar service  of  the  Society,  but  had  been  engaged  as  a 
good  mason  for  a  certain  time,  and  for  special  work. 

When  the  year  1827  opened  it  appeared  as  though 
the  mission  had  really  entered  on  a  peaceful  and 
steady  course.  The  first  permanent  dwelling-house 
had  been  finished  and  occupied — a  substantial  stone 
building,  instead  of  the  wooden  frame  filled  in  with 
wattle  and  daub  with  which  the  missionaries  had 
hitherto  been  contented.  The  water  had  been  led 
out,  and  smiling  gardens  gladdened  the  slopes  of  the 
valley.  Hamilton  and  Hughes  took  in  hand  what 
remained  of  public  manual  labour,  which  it  was 
arranged  that  Moffat  should  lay  aside  at  least  for 
a  time,  and  devote  himself  to  the  literature  of  the 
Sechwana  language. 


140       MOFFAT  STARTS  FOR  THE  DESERT. 

Rumours  of  war  still  came  from  the  interior  at 
intervals,  but  from  a  great  distance.  The  marauding 
vasfabonds  alonof  the  OranQ^e  River  seemed  also  to 
have  ceased  from  further  movements  in  the  direction 
of  Bechwanaland.  The  time  had  come  for  Moffat 
to  carry  out  a  plan  he  had  long  kept  in  view. 
Hitherto,  although  living  among  Bechwanas,  he  had 
been  so  much  in  contact  with  Dutch-speaking  people 
on  the  station,  that  it  was  not  easy  to  gather  up  the 
language,  which  as  yet  was  nowhere  to  be  found  in 
a  written  form.  He  determined,  if  only  for  a  short 
time,  to  go  right  away,  so  as  to  be  perfectly  alone 
with  Bechwanas,  taking  with  him  no  one  who  spoke 
Dutch  or  English. 

In  the  month  of  January  a  son  was  born.  He 
was  called  Robert  after  his  grandfather.  As  soon 
after  this  event  as  it  was  fit  for  him  to  leave,  Moffat 
started  on  his  journey.  He  directed  his  course  to 
the  Barolong  tribe,  who  were  at  this  time  scattered 
in  several  spots  along  the  margin  of  the  Kalahari 
Desert,  to  which  they  had  been  driven  by  the  Man- 
tatee  invasion,  and  from  which  they  had  not  yet 
seen  their  way  clear  to  return  to  the  part  of  the 
country  more  suitable  for  settled  residence.  They 
were  living  in  a  state  of  utter  degradation  and 
wretchedness,  in  mere  temporary  booths  rather  than 
huts,  in  a  dry  and  thirsty  land,  depending  mainly 
upon  the  milk  of  what  cattle  they  had  saved,  and 
the  meat  of  such  game  as  they  could  kill. 

He  took  up  his  quarters  at  the  encampment  of 
Bogacho,  one  of  the  chiefs  of  the  Barolong,  and 
spent  the  greater  part  of  two  months  there,  visiting 
also  some  of  the   other  places.     Day   by   day  his 


ROUGH  FARE  AND  DISCOMFORT.        141 

waggon  was  surrounded  by  the  idlers  of  the  camp, 
whose  noisy  clatter  would  continue  without  inter- 
mission for  hours.  Their  conversation  was  such  as 
no  civilized  person  could  take  any  pleasure  in  ;  their 
habits  were  dirty,  as  might  well  be  imagined  when 
it  is  remembered  that  the  water  was  four  miles  from 
the  village,  and  that  what  was  brought,  carried  by 
the  women,  would  be  used  only  for  drinking  and 
cooking.  The  intense  dryness  of  the  country,  the 
high  winds,  carrying  clouds  of  fine  sand  and  dust, 
the  imperfect  shelter  of  a  waggon,  with  not  a  vestige 
of  a  tree  available  for  shade,  and  the  swarms  of 
hungry  flies  from  the  heaps  of  rubbish  around, 
formed  a  sum  total  which  imagination  would  fail  to 
grasp,  except  that  of  one  who  has  seen  the  like. 

The  headmen  were,  in  their  way,  hospitable 
enough.  A  good  supply  of  milk  was  always  given, 
and  this  with  the  flesh  of  the  rhinoceros,  the  came- 
lopard,  and  the  cjuagga,  or  zebra,  all  of  which  were 
plentiful  in  the  neighbourhood,  supplied  sufiicient  if 
not  very  delicate  food.  But  the  soul  of  the  mis- 
sionary craved  other  sustenance.  If  he  could  have 
found  one  patient  or  attentive  listener  to  the  mes- 
sage which  lay  like  a  burden  upon  his  heart,  it  would 
have  sufficed.  This  was  not  to  be.  The  hearts  of 
these  people,  even  after  their  manifold  chastisements, 
were  utterly  brutish,  and  his  message  fell  upon  deaf 
ears. 

The  chief  object  of  his  journey  he  fully  gained. 
He  had  already  so  far  a  knowledge  of  the  Sechvvana 
language  that  a  few  weeks  of  the  life  he  led  in  this 
desert,  physical  and  moral,  were  sufficient  to  place 
him  at  one  bound  in  a  position  to  do  without  inter- 


142      THE  MARAUDERS  AT  WORK  AGAIN. 

preters,  and  to  speak  freely  to  the  people  in  their 
own  tongue.  He  set  off  to  return  home  with  this 
satisfaction,  and  on  his  arrival  astonished  Mothibi 
and  his  councillors  by  preaching  to  them  a  sermon 
in  such  Sechwana,  that  the  only  growling  criticism 
the  chief  could  find  to  make  was  that  it  smacked  too 
much  of  the  SerolonQf  dialect.  He  found  all  well  in 
his  now  beautiful  home  ;  hut  his  chief  joy  was  that 
he  could  settle  down  with  some  feeling  of  ability  to 
the  work  of  translation. 

The  time  for  this  had  not  yet  come.  He  had  not 
been  long  home  before  trouble  again  began  by  the 
movements  of  the  banditti  from  the  westward.  The 
hands  of  these  miscreants  were  strengthened  by  dis- 
sensions among  the  Griquas  themselves,  some  of 
whom  had  joined  the  enemy.  An  attack  was  made 
upon  Griqua  Town  itself,  and  repelled,  but  Water- 
boer  with  his  people  were  unable  to  follow  up  the 
advantage  in  consequence  of  the  capture  of  most  of 
their  horses,  and  the  exhaustion  of  their  ammunition. 
The  marauders  having  failed  at  Griqua  Town,  now 
turned  their  attention  to  Kuruman  ;  and  so  threaten- 
ing did  the  aspect  of  affairs  become  that  the  mission- 
aries there,  in  response  to  the  urgent  representations 
of  their  friends  at  Griqua  Town,  felt  it  their  duty  to 
retire  for  a  time  to  that  station,  not  for  the  first  time 
an  ark  of  refuge  to  them. 

Some  time  passed  with  no  further  movement  on 
the  part  of  the  banditti,  and  the  Kuruman  mission- 
aries returned  home.  But  the  loss  of  time  was  great, 
and  there  was  also  the  inevitable  loss  of  property  ; 
though,  upon  the  whole,  they  found  their  houses  and 
what  they  had  left  behind  in  good  order — a  proof  of 


THE  BLOOMS  MENACE  KUKUMAN.        143 

the  influence  they  were  gaining  over  the  minds  of 
the  Bechwanas,  whom  they  found  on  their  first 
arrival  a  set  of  inveterate  thieves.  Robert  Moffat 
writes  as  follows  : 

"  Lattakoo,  Ft:,').  18,  1828. 
"  Mv  DEAR  Father, — We  wrote  to  Mr.   Roby  and  to 
John   about  two  months  ago,  but    as  Mr.    Hamilton   will 
leave  this  to-morrow  for  Algoa  Bay,  and  there  being  little 
probability  of  another   opportunity  for    some    months,    I 
cannot   let   the   present   slip   without  writing  a  few  hasty 
lines.     If  the  above  communications  have  come  to  hand, 
you  will  be  apprised  of  our  temporary  removal  to  Griqua 
Town  and  subsequent  return  to  this  station.     Since  then 
we  have  been  thrown  into  much  perplexity  from  a  circum- 
stance which  led  us  to  fear  that  the  worst  of  events  was  yet 
to  happen  to  this  our  afflicted  Mission.     Nearly  a  month 
ago  a  strong  party  of  the  mountaineers,  headed   by  the 
Blooms,  sons   of  the   famous  robber  of  that   name,  came 
unexpectedly  on  the  Batlaro  cattle  outposts,  a  little  way 
below  this  station,  where  they  made  an  easy  prey  of  all 
within  their  reach.     They  came  no  further  ;  but  we  were 
soon  informed  on  good  authority  that  it  was  the  intention 
of  the  Blooms  to  return  from  the  Orange  River  with  the 
sole  purpose  of  rooting  out  this  Mission,  which  all  along 
has  been  an  eyesore  to  such  marauding  expeditions.     In 
consequence  of  this  well-authenticated  report,  many  of  the 
natives  in  our  immediate  vicinity  sent  off  all  their  families 
and  cattle  to  a  distance.     After  mature  deliberation  and 
prayer  for  Divine  assistance,  we  resolved  to  remain  on  the 
station,  and  to  abide  the  consequences.     From  a  sense  of 
duty  we  acquainted  Andries  Waterboer  with   what   had 
transpired,  and  he  soon  informed  us  that  his  adverse  cir- 
cumstances  precluded  every  possibility  of  his    rendering 
any  assistance.     This  was  what  we  wished  and  expected, 
as  it  was  more  congenial  to  our  sentiments  to  remain  un- 
connected with  either  party  ;  for  if  Andries  had,  agreeable 
to  his  first  intention,  sent  a   small   party  to   defend  the 
station,  we  should  have  become  more  than  ever  the  butt  of 
indignation  to  the  enemy. 


144     J^^A^  KARSE  SETTLES  ON  THE  STATION. 

"  In  this  state  of  suspense  we  continued  near  three 
weeks,  when  it  pleased  our  Heavenly  Father  to  disperse 
in  some  degree  the  gloom  which  rested  on  our  prospects. 
Jan  Karse,  a  respectable  Griqua,  brother-in-law  to  the 
Blooms,  hearing  of  our  situation,  came  with  his  family  to 
the  station,  not  to  defend  b)^  the  force  of  arms,  but  to 
endeavour  to  convince  his  relations  by  soft  argument  of 
the  error  of  their  ways,  and  influence  them  to  abandon 
their  murderous  courses.  Nothing  could  be  more  agree- 
able to  our  wishes  than  the  motives  of  Jan  Karse,  and 
through  the  Divine  blessing  they  may  have  the  most  salu- 
tary effects.  It  is  also  likely  that  he  will  remain  some 
time  on  the  station,  being  anxious  that  his  children  and 
domestics  should  enjoy  the  advantages  of  the  school. 

"  Affairs  are  wearing  a  more  pleasing  aspect.  Mothibi 
and  his  people  are  still  wandering  in  the  Bushman  country, 
and  will  not  likely  return  till  public  affairs  become  more 
settled.  Although  things  are  so  unpropitious,  we  are, 
blessed  be  God,  far  from  being  discouraged.  The  Lord 
has  hitherto  preserved  us,  and  done  great  things  for  us, 
and  He  continues  able  to  deliver. 

"  There  are  also  some  things  calculated  to  cheer  and 
encourage,  and  we  have  no  doubt  but  ultimate  success 
will  crown  our  labours.  At  a  small  distance  are  two 
Batlaro  villages,  and  on  the  station  there  are  at  least  fifty 
families.  All  these  from  time  to  time  have  the  gospel  of 
salvation  preached  in  their  own  language  ;  and  though  we 
as  yet  see  no  immediate  fruit  of  the  Spirit,  yet  it  is  a  con- 
solation to  know  that  their  knowledge  in  Divine  things  is 
increasing,  and  there  are  several  who  have  begun  to  pray. 

"  By  Mr.  Miles  the  long-looked-for  books  arrived,  and 
about  two  weeks  after  he  left  I  commenced  the  school  in 
the  Sechwana  language.  Notwithstanding  the  unpleasant 
circumstances  of  the  station,  the  number  attending  ex- 
ceeded our  expectations.  There  are  already  four  Bech- 
wanas  who  can  read  in  their  own  language  the  first 
principles  of  the  doctrine  of  Christ,  and  I  trust  to  be 
able  very  soon  to  put  six  or  eight  more  into  that  class.  I 
have  also  begun  an  evening  school,  which  promises  well. 


CONCOURSE  OF  TRIBES  AT  THE  STATION.  145 

The  attendance,  chiefly  adult,  has  risen  to  forty,  while  that 
of  the  day  school  is  about  fifty.  We  have  also  begun  to 
sing  hymns  composed  in  the  language,  which  has  a  very 
enlivening  effect.  The  scholars  are  at  present  exclusively 
from  the  families  who  live  on  the  station,  and  these  con- 
sist chiefly  of  strangers.  There  are  here  Batlaping, 
Batlaro,  Barolong,  Bashuto,  Bakuena,  Bakalahari,  and 
Matebele.  At  present  they  are  chiefly  poor,  but  indus- 
trious, and,  with  the  assistance  of  fruitful  gardens,  are 
better  off  than  the  more  affluent  natives  whose  depen- 
dence is  entirely  on  their  flocks.  We  have  found  them 
very  serviceable  in  carrying  on  building,  they  being  always 
ready  to  work,  for  which  they  are  duly  rewarded.  We  are 
entirely  dependent  on  them  for  such  assistance. 

"Attending  school  twice  in  the  day,  with  the  different 
services  in  the  church  and  other  cares  connected  with  the 
welfare  of  the  station,  will  for  some  time  keep  me  very 
busy,  and  prevent  me  devoting  all  that  time  to  study  which 
I  could  wish.  It  is  my  object  now  to  get  something  trans- 
lated to  put  into  the  hands  of  those  who  learn  to  read." 


It 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

LAST  ATTACKS  OF  THE  MARAUDERS. 
1828. 

THE  hopeful  prospect  was  soon,  however,  to 
be  again  clouded  over.  In  the  month  of 
April  the  unfortunate  Bechwanas  from  the 
surrounding  country  began  to  take  refuge  at  the 
station  on  account  of  another  band  of  marauders 
that  came  up  from  the  Orange  River  and  scoured 
the  country.  These  were  the  people  of  whom  Jan 
Karse  had  heard,  and  he  behaved  very  well  indeed 
in  carrying  out  his  good  resolutions.  Hearing  that 
they  were  encamped  upon  the  Matlwaring  River, 
about  eighteen  miles  away,  he  rode  out  and  en- 
treated them  to  return,  and  not  to  add  to  the  long 
list  of  their  evil  deeds.  He  found  among  them  his 
brother-in-law,  and  gained  him  over. 

The  rest  made  as  though  they  were  persuaded, 
and  actually  started  ;  but  instead  of  going  the  way 
they  had  come,  as  they  had  promised  to  do,  they 
suddenly  appeared  on  the  station,  and  threw  them- 
selves into  some  breastworks  which  had  been  raised 
for    purposes    of   defence.     There   they   remained 


ATTEMPT  AT   MEDIATION.  147 

several  days,  maintaining  a  sullen  silence  about 
their  intentions,  but  making-  so  far  a  show  of 
friendliness  that  they  went  freely  about  among  the 
people  on  the  station.  At  last  Bloom  gave  warning 
that  evil  was  intended,  and  that  all  must  be  upon 
their  guard. 

Karse  went  up  to  their  camp  the  next  day,  and 
tried  to  bring  them  to  a  better  mind.  His  wife 
went  with  him.  The  interview  was  long,  but  ended 
fruidessly,  and  he  was  warned  to  get  him  gone. 
His  wife  was  tall  and  portly;  he  was  quite  the 
contrary.  She  took  in  the  situation  at  a  glance, 
and  as  the  pair  came  down  the  slope  she  made 
him  walk  in  front  of  her,  having  a  shrewd  sus- 
picion that  otherwise  he  would  be  shot.  A  few 
minutes  later,  Bloom,  taking  his  gun,  also  left  the 
camp,  and  finally  broke  with  his  associates.  He 
was  just  turning  the  corner  of  the  mission-house 
when  a  shot  was  fired,  and  a  bullet  ploughed  the 
ground  at  his  feet. 

Happily  at  this  juncture  a  timely  reinforcement 
appeared  in  the  person  of  Arend  and  his  party. 
Mention  has  already  been  made  of  this  man.  He 
was  an  escaped  slave  from  the  Colony,  who  had 
paid  his  own  ransom  with  ivory,  and  had  settled 
in  the  vicinity  of  the  station.  He  was  a  bold  and 
resolute  man,  and  a  good  shot,  and  he  and  his 
men  were  well  armed.  His  appearance  put  heart 
into  the  somewhat  timid  Bechwanas.  Sharp  firing 
commenced,  Arend  and  a  (cw  resolute  men  made 
a  rush,  the  robbers  deserted  their  entrenchments 
and  scattered  in  wild  flight  across  the  plain  ;  six 
fell  and  five  more  were  captured,  and  the  rest  be- 


148  THE   BANDITTI   GROW  POORER. 

took  themselves  to  the  western  hills.  Thus  ended 
another  critical  episode  in  the  history  of  the  mission. 

This  was  only  one  of  several  parties  of  marauding 
banditti  who  for  some  years  kept  the  border  country 
in  a  state  of  misery.  Their  haunts  were  along  the 
Orange  River ;  and  they  were  in  communication 
with  certain  lawless  Boers  on  the  northern  outskirts 
of  the  Colony  who  carried  on  an  illicit  trade  in 
guns  and  ammunition.  By  means  of  these,  though 
their  numbers  were  small,  the  Bechwanas  were 
quite  at  their  mercj'',  armed  as  they  were  with  as- 
segais and  knobsticks  only.  Though  they  swept 
away  thousands  of  cattle  and  ravaged  many  vil- 
lages, so  little  did  their  wickedness  profit  them 
that  they  grew  the  longer  the  poorer.  After  the 
attack  on  Kuruman  had  been  repelled,  and  had 
shaken  their  prestige,  another  blow  fell  upon  them 
by  the  action  of  the  Colonial  Government  in  cut- 
ting off  the  supply  of  ammunition,  and  before  long 
these  wretched  men  began  to  wander  all  over  the 
country  in  the  last  stage  of  destitution. 

The  missionaries  now  began  to  take  heart  again, 
and  work  was  resumed ;  but  their  troubles  were  not 
yet  over.  On  the  ninth  of  August  the  alarm  was 
again  raised.  The  fugitive  Batlaros  came  pouring 
in  with  their  flocks  and  herds,  and  the  Kuruman 
was  once  more  a  camp  of  refuge.  Few  slept  that 
night.  Next  morning,  by  Moffat's  directions,  the 
low  heights  at  the  back  of  the  station  were  crowded 
with  men,  to  give  the  appearance  of  a  large  de- 
fending force,  though  probably  not  a  dozen  guns 
could  have  been  mustered.  The  enemy  was  seen 
approaching.      The  cavalcade  was    even  more  for- 


MOFFAT    UNDER   A    FLAG  OF   TRUCE.    149 

midable  than  had  been  expected.  It  was  a  com- 
paratively strange  party,  which  had  come  from 
Namaqualand,  far  west  down  along  the  Orange 
River.  As  they  came  on,  they  scoured  the  sur- 
rounding plain  in  search  of  plunder,  but  found 
only  a  ((iw  sheep  and  cows,  all  other  stock  having 
been  crowded  on  to  the  station,  and  filling  up 
every  available  space  in  and  around  the  half-built 
church  and  other  houses. 

The  would-be  assailants  drew  up  at  some  distance, 
dismayed  at  the  signs  of  an  apparently  formidable 
defence.  After  some  delay  they  sent  forward  two 
messengers  with  a  flag  of  truce.  It  would  not  do 
to  let  these  people  come  within  the  precincts  of  the 
station  and  see  its  weakness,  so  Moffat  started  to 
meet  them  half-way.  He  learned  from  them  that  a 
renegade  Christian  Griqua  was  one  of  the  leaders 
of  the  party,  and  wished  to  see  him.  He  came,  but 
as  he  drew  near  the  presence  of  the  missionary  was 
too  much  for  him,  and  his  courage  was  fast  melting 
away.  He  was  only  too  glad  to  disclaim  any  autho- 
rity or  responsibility  for  what  had  already  been  done, 
and  tried  to  lay  all  blame  on  the  shoulders  of  another, 
a  Namaqua  chief  of  the  name  of  Paul. 

Just  at  this  juncture  a  waggon  came  in  sight  on 
the  road  from  the  southward.  It  proved  to  be  that 
of  Archbell,  a  Wesleyan  missionary  from  Platberg. 
As  it  had  to  pass  near  the  place  where  the  bandits 
had  encamped,  and  a  movement  was  evidently  taking 
place  to  intercept  it,  Moffat  said  to  the  cowering 
Griqua,  '*  Now  is  your  time  to  show  that  you  are 
sincere  ;  bring  that  waggon  safely  past."  He  was 
only  too  glad  of  an  excuse  to  end  a  meeting  that 


150  A    TERRIBLE    PAIR    OF  EYES. 

was  growing  every  moment  too  embarrassing  for 
him,  and  ran  off  to  curb  the  violence  of  the  party 
and  to  escort  the  waggon.  This  gave  time  for 
further  negotiation,  and  at  last  Paul  himself  slowly 
and  reluctantly  drew  near,  with  his  hat  drawn  down 
over  his  eyes,  for  he  could  not  look  into  the  face  of 
1  man  who  in  former  days  had  slept  in  his  village, 
and  had  faithfully  preached  to  him  and  to  his  family 
the  word  of  life. 

He  pleaded  that  Moffat  personally  need  fear 
nothing  from  him,  but  tried  to  justify  his  desire  for 
vengeance  upon  the  Batlaping.  It  took  long  and 
patient  persuasion  to  bring  him  round,  but  when  he 
did  turn  the  victory  was  complete.  He  abruptly 
called  one  of  his  men.  "  Bring  back  those  sheep 
and  cows  we  took  this  morning."  It  was  done,  "  I 
am  going,"  he  said.  "  There  are  the  things  of  your 
people.  Will  Mynheer  not  shake  hands  with  me 
for  once  ?  "  "  Of  course  I  will  ;  but  let  me  see  your 
face."  "  That  I  will  not  indeed  :  I  do  not  want  to 
die  yet.  I  can  see  your  face  through  my  hat."  And 
away  he  went,  glad  to  turn  without  having  met 
those  terrible  eyes  which  roused  an  accusing  con- 
science within. 

So  complete  was  the  revulsion  of  feeling,  that  the 
leaders  of  the  party  appealed  to  the  missionary  to 
promise  that  they  should  not  be  attacked  in  their 
camp  that  night.  They  were  supplied  with  food, 
and  by  the  dawn  of  next  day  had  vanished  like  the 
shadow  of  a  dream.  The  larger  part  returned  to 
Namaqualand,  and  others  turned  off  and  went  to 
seek  plunder  on  their  own  account  further  north- 
wards, but  came  to  a  miserable  end.    One  of  the  few 


THE   LAST   OF   THE   ROBBERS.  151 

scattered  survivors  made  his  appearance  naked  and 
starving,  under  cover  of  night,  at  Moffat's  door  a  few 
weeks  afterwards,  and  found  the  succour  which  was 
denied  to  none.  From  this  time  the  land  had  peace 
until  fifty  years  afterwards,  when  an  English  force 
invaded  the  Bechwana  country — an  invasion  about 
which  the  less  said  the  better. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

DAYLIGHT  AT  LAST. 
1829. 

FROM  the  commencement  of  the  Bechwana 
Mission  by  Hamilton  and  Read  in  18 16,  for 
a  period  of  more  than  ten  years,  not  a  ray 
of  light  shot  across  the  gloom  to  cheer  the  hearts 
of  the  missionaries.  A  dull  and  stolid  indifference 
reigned  ;  the  Batlaping  would  talk  of  any  ordinary 
subject,  and  were  willing  to  avail  themselves  of  the 
presence  of  the  white  people  in  their  country  for 
any  temporal  advantage  that  might  be  within  their 
reach,  but  the  moment  a  word  was  said  about  divine 
things  their  ears  seemed  to  become  deaf  at  once, 
and  they  would  walk  away  determined  to  have 
nothing  to  do  with  that  foolishness. 

To  people  like  the  missionaries,  whose  whole 
heart  was  in  their  work,  who  believed  that  all  said 
in  the  New  Testament  about  the  solemn  eventuali- 
ties of  another  world  was  literally  true  and  no  mere 
figure  of  speech,  who  looked  at  the  heathen  around 
them  and  felt  that  they  were  verily  perishing,  it 
was  sore  trial  of  faith  to  go  on  year  after  year  with 
their  message  burning  in  their  hearts. 


UNSHAKEN  FAITH.  153 

The  darkness  was  long  and  gloomy  beyond  com- 
pare, but  there  was  no  wavering  of  faith.  There 
were  times,  indeed,  when  the  brethren  Hamilton  and 
Moffat  were  cast  down  and  disposed  to  cry  with  the 
prophet,  "  Who  hath  believed  our  report  ? "  and  to 
ask,  "Is  this  the  right  path?"  but  there  was  one 
member  of  the  mission,  weak  in  body  but  strong  in 
faith,  who  never  faltered.  She  would  but  fall  back 
on  the  promises  of  the  unchangeable  God,  and  say, 
"  We  may  not  live  to  see  it,  but  the  awakening  will 
come  as  surely  as  the  sun  will  rise  to-morrow."  On 
one  occasion  a  letter  was  received  from  her  friend 
Mrs.  Greaves  of  Sheffield,  asking  if  there  was  any- 
thing of  use  which  could  be  sent.  The  answer  of 
Mary  Moffat  was,  "  Send  us  a  communion  service  ; 
we  shall  want  it  some  day,"  At  that  time  there  was 
no  glimmer  of  the  dawn,  and  in  the  course  of  the 
two  or  three  years  which  it  took  with  their  slow 
communications  to  get  that  request  of  faith  fulfilled 
there  was  time  for  an  even  thicker  darkness  to  over- 
spread the  sky,  and  the  sorest  cross  of  all  was  a 
rumour  which  came  that  doubts  were  beginning  to 
be  felt  at  home  about  the  use  of  going  on  with  the 
Bechwana  Mission  •  but  they  held  on. 

In  the  year  1827  there  began  to  be  a  sort  of 
change,  almost  like  that  change  in  the  sky  even 
before  the  dawn  which  is  familiar  to  watchers  in  the 
night.  The  bulk  of  the  Batlaping  tribe,  utterly 
weary  and  impoverished  by  the  incessant  forays  of 
the  western  banditti,  had  drifted  away  eastward 
and  settled  along  the  course  of  the  Vaal  and  the 
Kolong  rivers  ;  but  their  place  at  Kuruman  had 
been  in  a  measure  supplied  by  a  mixed  community 


154  ^^^    GREAT  AWAKENING. 

of  refugees  from  the  interior  tribes,  and  the  Batlaro 
still  clung'  to  their  old  location  to  the  north-west  of 
the  station  on  the  confines  of  the  Kalahari  Desert. 
Many  of  the  refugees  were  drawn  to  the  station  by- 
feelings  which  gave  them  a  disposition  open  to  mis- 
sionary influence,  so  that  it  began  to  be  seen  that 
there  was  a  better  attendance  and  a  more  settled 
attention  to  the  preaching  and  teaching  of  the  mis- 
sionaries. 

At  length,  in  1829,  a  marvellous  awakening 
began.  It  came,  as  such  things  do  come,  without 
any  human  or  visible  existing  cause.  There  was  a 
wave  of  tumultuous  and  simultaneous  enthusiasm. 
The  two  brethren  who  witnessed  it  were  sober- 
minded  and  hard-headed  Scotchmen,  by  disposition 
not  willing  to  lend  themselves  to  any  movement 
which  might  seem  to  have  the  taint  of  mere  sensa- 
tionalism. They  had  been  schooled  to  adversity, 
and  they  could  but  dread  some  new  device  of  the 
devil  to  obstruct  their  path  ;  but  it  was  not  long 
before  they  were  forced  to  admit  that  there  was 
something  that  could  not  be  gainsaid.  In  a  few 
months  the  whole  aspect  of  the  station  had  changed. 
The  meeting-house  was  crowded  before  the  service 
had  begun.  Heathen  songs  and  dancing  had  ceased, 
and  everywhere  were  to  be  heard  instead  the  songs 
of  Zion  and  the  outpouring  of  impassioned  prayers. 
The  missionaries  were  beset  even  in  their  own 
houses  by  those  who  were  seeking  fuller  instruction 
in  things  which  had  become  to  them  all  at  once  of 
paramount  importance.  The  moral  condition  of  the 
community  rapidly  improved,  and  the  dirt  and  in- 
decency of  heathen   costume   were    exchanged   for 


HOPE   NOT  MADE   ASHAMED.  155 

cleanliness  and  European  habits  of  clothing,  as  far 
as  the  supply  could  be  met  by  the  visits  of  occasional 
traders. 

Great  as  was  the  change,  the  missionaries  did  not 
dismiss  their  northern  caution.  It  was  only  after 
careful  examination  that  from  the  many  who  pressed 
forward  they  selected  some  six  in  the  first  instance 
to  receive  the  rite  of  baptism.  Few  can  enter  into 
the  feelings  which  must  have  animated  the  hearts  of 
the  missionary  band  when  they  first  sat  down  with 
that  little  company  at  the  table  of  the  Lord.  On 
the  day  preceding  this  memorable  occasion  in  the 
history  of  the  Bechwana  Mission  a  box  arrived 
which  had  been  lonQ"on  the  road  from  Ens^land.  It 
contained  the  communion  vessels  for  which  Mary 
Moffat  had  asked  nearly  three  years  before. 

The  zeal  of  the  new  converts  showed  itself  in 
practical  forms.  There  were,  of  course,  in  the  first 
instance  features  of  the  movement  which  needed  to 
be  carefully  watched.  The  Bechwanas  pride  them- 
selves in  the  suppression  of  all  outward  emotion. 
Those  who  know  them  can  often  see  that  under  a 
calm  demeanour  there  is  raging  a  volcano  of  excite- 
ment. But  if  their  feelings  do  gain  the  upper  hand 
they  are  shown  by  uncontrollable  outbursts,  and  in 
ways  almost  painful  to  witness.  Thus  it  was  that  at 
times  the  little  meeting-house  at  Kuruman  was  filled 
with  a  storm  of  sobs  and  cries  which  made  it  almost 
impossible  to  proceed  with  the  service.  But  as  time 
went  on  these  manifestations  moderated,  and  the 
converts  settled  down  to  steady  work.  Three  of 
the  men  came  forward  and  offered  to  take  upon 
themselves    the  work    of  buildino;    a   brick   school- 


156  A    BRIGHT   SPRING-TIME. 

house,  which  should  at  the  same  time  serve  as  a 
temporary  place  of  worship  until  the  great  stone 
church,  of  which  the  foundations  had  even  then  been 
laid,  should  be  finished.  All  that  they  asked  was 
that  the  carpenters'  work,  for  which  they  were  not 
qualified,  might  be  done  for  them.  They  would 
provide  all  the  material  and  would  build  and  roof. 
They  were  as  good  as  their  word,  and  a  school- 
house  was  raised  without  a  sixpence  of  direct 
expense  to  the  Society. 

The  station  at  this  time  enjoyed  much  prosperity 
in  temporal  matters.  The  leading  out  of  the  water 
for  irrigation  made  the  people  more  independent  of 
the  precarious  rainfall ;  they  were  well  supplied, 
while  in  the  country  around  their  heathen  neighbours, 
impoverished  by  war  and  drought,  were  living  a 
life  of  semi-starvation.  The  year  was  one  of  the 
brightest  in  the  annals  of  the  station.  It  was  the 
full  bloom  of  the  spring  time,  which  has  been  suc- 
ceeded by  those  alternations  of  frost  and  sunshine 
common  to  all  missions.  Moffat  was  now  more  at 
liberty  to  carry  out  his  long  desired  purpose  of 
translating.  He  put  into  Sechwana  the  Gospel 
of  Luke  and  a  selection  of  other  scriptures  ;  and  of 
these  he  used  to  read  from  his  manuscript  in  public 
worship  or  as  occasion  offered. 

Mary  Moffat  writes  to  her  father  on  the  nine- 
teenth of  October,  1829 : 

"If  you  have  received  our  former  letters  your  heart 
would  be  overjoyed  at  the  glad  tidings  from  this  station, 
and  the  later  communications  were  calculated  rather  to 
increase  than  to  diminish  that  joy.  To  hear  of  the  steady 
and  growing  piety  of  some  of  these  sable  children  of  Adam, 


ANSWERS    TO   PRAYER.  157 

tojjether  with  the  increase  of  Divine  knowledge  in  the 
minds  of  others,  must  be  reviving  to  the  hearts  of  all  who 
love  the  cause,  but  especially  to  such  as  are  so  nearly  con- 
nected with  this  mission  as  yourself  Our  gracious  God 
has  been  very  condescending  to  spare  the  lives  of  His 
unworthy  servants  to  witness  some  fruits  of  missionary 
labour — a  felicity  we  frequently  despaired  of  cnjo\'ing 
while  in  this  lower  world,  where  crosses  and  disappoint- 
rhents  seemed  to  form  so  large  a  proportion  in  our  cup. 
We  now  often  wish  you  could  be  with  us,  to  witness  for 
yourself  what  we  see.  As  I  think  you  would  see  Mr. 
Roby's  letter,  and  probably  the  Directors  would  publish 
Moffat's,  it  is  not  necessary  for  me  to  repeat  what  was  then 
written.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  the  converts  are  going  on 
well,  and  though  the  general  commotion  in  the  minds  of 
the  people  has  in  a  great  measure  subsided,  we  have  solid 
reason  to  believe  that  there  are  many  persons  who  are 
the  subjects  of  an  abiding  conviction  of  their  condition  as 
sinners  before  God,  and  are  in  the  constant  and  diligent 
use  of  the  means  of  grace  ;  which  we  doubt  not  will  be 
effectual  through  the  Spirit  in  leading  them  to  the  Saviour 
of  sinners.  We  do  ardently  hope  and  pray  that  what  has 
taken  place  may  be  but  the  few  drops  before  the  plenteous 
shower.  The  Spirit  of  God  has  commenced  His  operations, 
and  surely  He  will  go  on.  Oh  for  a  more  general  spirit 
of  prayer  and  supplication  !  I  hear  from  my  friend  Miss 
Lees,  that  the  very  time  of  the  awakening  here,  was  the 
season  of  extraordinary  prayer  among  the  churches  at 
home.  What  a  coincidence  !  and  what  an  encouragement 
to  persevere  in  that  important  part  of  Christian  duty. 

"  But  it  is  time  for  me  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of 
the  two  boxes  you  sent.  They  came  to  hand  in  July.  I 
will  not  attempt  to  describe  my  feelings  on  the  sight  of 
the  portraits  of  my  dear  mother  and  yourself.  They  are 
such  striking  likenesses  as  powerfully  to  affect  our  hearts, 
and  to  the  present  moment  when  inadvertently  I  cast  my 
eyes  on  either,  my  heart  bounds  within  me.  The  first  day 
we  hung  them  up  we  had  a  church-meeting  in  our  hall. 
Brother  Hamilton  sat  on  one  side  of  the  fire  in  an  arm- 


158        MOSILIKATSE   FIRST  HEARD   OF. 

chair,  and  Robert  on  the  other,  and  the  portraits  hanging 
above  seemed  to  form  a  part  of  the  company.  I  fancied 
my  mother  might  be  spiritually  present.  Five  Bechwana 
converts,  with  Rachel  the  wife  of  Arend,  were  received  on 
the  occasion.  The  scene  was  highly  interesting,  and  to  us 
the  interest  was  heightened  by  this  little  circumstance.  I 
could  not  but  breathe  when  looking  at  your  own,  '  Oh  that 
those  lips  had  language,  and  that  those  ears  could  hear ! ' " 

The  turn  events  had  taken  in  the  Bechvv^ana 
Mission  was  followed  by  another  event  which  led 
in  the  end  to  a  wide  extension  of  the  sphere  to 
which  Moffat  and  his  coadjutors  looked  with  hope 
for  the  prosecution  of  their  work.  For  months, 
and  indeed  for  years,  vague  rumours  had  been 
coming,  handed  on  from  one  tribe  to  another,  about 
a  strong  and  warlike  people  to  the  eastward,  who 
spoke  another  language  and  were  strangers  to  the 
Bechwanas.  Of  his  first  visits  to  these  people  and 
their  chief,  Moffat  has  fully  told  the  tale  in  his  own 
missionary  volume  ;  but  in  view  of  the  important 
part  they  played  ever  after  in  his  life  and  interest, 
a  summary  account  of  these  visits  is  now  repeated, 
being  much  abridged  parts  of  his  journal  in  his 
own  words  : 

"  This  records  the  first  contact  of  missionaries  with  the 
Matebele  tribe  under  the  chief  Mosilikatse — or  Umziligazi, 
as  he  would  be  called  in  Zululand,  whence  he  came,  him- 
self a  fugitive  from  the  tyranny  of  Chaka.  He  headed 
another  w^ave  of  emigration  which  rolled  westwards,  and 
threw  into  terror  and  confusion  the  comparatively  unwar- 
like  Basuto  and  Bechwana  tribes,  who  inhabited  what  is 
now  the  Transvaal. 

"In  the  year  1829  two  traders  went  into  the  interior  to 
shoot  elephants  and  to  barter.  Hearing  from  the  Bahu- 
rutse  that  a  tribe  rich  in  cattle  lay  far  eastward,  they  went 


HIS   MESSENGERS    VISIT  KURUMAN.     159 

on,  and  were  well  received  by  Mosilikatse  the  kinc^,  who, 
however,  allowed  them  to  approach  his  town  on  horseback 
only.  Before  this  the  Matebele — or  Mantotoana,  as  they 
were  then  called — had  come  in  contact  with  the  Bahurutse, 
and  had  learned  through  them  of  the  existence  of  the 
white  people,  especially  those  at  Kuruman,  with  whom  they 
were  best  acquainted.  Mosilikatse,  in  quest  of  more  exten- 
sive and  particular  knowledge  of  the  white  meii,  was  led  to 
send  two  of  his  head  men,  charging  them  to  inquire  specially 
about  the  manners  and  teachings  of  those  at  the  Kuruman. 

"  On  their  arrival  here  with  three  attendants,  everything 
astonished  and  interested  them,  and  they  themselves  were 
the  objects  of  still  greater  astonishment  to  our  people, 
who  stared  as  though  regarding  another  order  of  beings. 
They  were  shown  every  attention,  and  they  in  turn  were 
full  of  gratitude.  The  order  of  worship  and  the  singing 
arrested  their  attention,  while  the  water-courses,  gardens, 
houses,  and  blacksmith's  forge  kept  their  minds  in  con- 
stant exercise.  Difficulties  arose  about  their  safe  return 
to  their  own  country.  A  report  was  spread  that  the 
tribes  through  which  they  had  to  pass  intended  to  murder 
them  as  spies,  and  they  were  naturally  in  some  alarm. 
In  view  of  the  warlike  disposition  and  mighty  power  of 
the  Matebele,  who  had  already  destroyed  so  many  great 
tribes  and  deluged  the  Bakwena  country  with  blood,  I 
could  not  help  fearing  the  dire  results  if  anything  should 
happen  to  these  peaceful  messengers.  After  careful  thought, 
and  having  sought  counsel  from  above,  I  resolved,  with  the 
cordial  approval  of  brother  Hamilton,  to  escort  them  to  the 
Bahurutse,  after  which  they  could  go  on  without  fear  to 
their  own  country. 

"  I  hired  a  waggon  for  their  conveyance,  and  left  this 
place  on  the  9th  of  November.  We  travelled  quickly, 
and  reached  the  Bahurutse  at  Mosega  a  little  south  of 
Kurrcchane  in  ten  days.  We  had  been  traversing  immense 
and  monotonous  plains,  the  only  objects  of  interest  upon 
which  were  occasional  troops  of  game,  including  giraffes 
and  rhinoceros.  We  passed  without  visiting  the  Barolong 
villages  at  Kunwana. 


i6o  MOFFAT  JOURNEYS   TO   THE   MATEBELE. 

"At  Sitlagole,  a  sand  river  about  one  hundred  and  s"xty 
miles  from  Kuruman,  we  had  just  halted,  and  our  oxen 
had  gone  little  further  than  a  gun-shot  in  front  of  the 
waggons,  when  two  lions  appeared,  one  of  which  rushed 
down  upon  the  cattle,  sprang  upon  one  of  them,  and  with 
one  bite  at  the  back  of  the  neck  laid  him  dead.  All  hands 
hastened  with  guns  and  spears  to  dispute  possession  of 
the  carcase  with  the  king  of  the  desert,  and  he  hastened 
away,  making  no  attempt  to  regain  his  booty. 

"  Reaching  Mosega  we  were  received  with  much  pleasure 
by  Mokatle,  the  chief  of  the  Bahurutse.  We  were  detained 
for  three  days  by  torrents  of  rain,  during  which  I  embraced 
every  opportunity  of  making  him  and  his  people  acquainted 
with  Divine  things.  Many  still  remembered  Mr.  Campbell. 
Mokatle  had  long  wished  to  visit  his  new  neighbour,  but 
had  not  dared  to  venture  himself  within  the  grasp  of  one 
who  had  ravaged  the  country. 

"  Having  fulfilled  my  engagement  in  conveying  my 
charge  safely  to  the  Bahurutse,  I  resolved  to  return  ;  but 
of  this  they  would  not  hear.  They  entreated  me  to  ac- 
company them  to  their  master,  who,  they  declared,  would 
be  ready  to  kill  them  for  allowing  me  to  go  back  after 
coming  so  far.  I  at  last  consented,  and  Mokatle,  seeing 
that  if  he  accompanied  me  he  would  now  have  some 
chance  of  returning  alive,  started  with  us.  The  country 
now  became  beautiful ;  hills  and  valleys,  with  groves  of 
a  richer  foliage  than  I  had  seen  before,  and  numerous 
running  streams  of  excellent  water,  all  flowing  towards 
the  Indian  Ocean. 

"  The  whole  country  appeared  to  have  once  contained  a 
dense  population,  but  was  now,  since  the  invasion  of  the 
Mantatees  and  the  terror  of  the  Matebele,  become  the 
habitation  of  wild  beasts  and  venomous  reptiles  ;  where 
lions  roamed  at  large  as  if  conscious  that  there  was  none 
to  oppose,  and  emboldened  by  having  become  accustomed 
to  gorge  on  human  flesh  owing  to  the  destructive  warfare 
which  had  raged  for  some  years.  We  were  mercifully 
preserved,  though  our  slumbers  were  often  interrupted  by 
the  hideous  serenade. 


A  LAND  OF  DESOLATION.  i6i 

"  Five  days  after  leaving  the  Bahurutse,  we  came  to  the 
first  outpost  of  the  Matebcle.  The  country  through  which 
we  now  passed  was  along  a  range  of  hills  running  nearly 
east  and  south-east,  while  the  country  to  the  north  and 
east  became  more  level  and  beautifully  studded  with  small 
chains  of  mountains  and  conical  hills,  along  the  bases  of 
which  lay  the  ruins  of  innumerable  towns,  some  of  amazing 
extent.  Many  an  hour  I  walked  pensively  among  these 
scenes  of  desolation,  casting  my  thoughts  back  to  the  time 
when  these  now  desolate  habitations  teemed  with  life  and 
revelry,  and  when  the  hills  and  dales  echoed  with  heathen 
joy.  Nothing  now  remains  but  dilapidated  walls  and  heaps 
of  stones  and  rubbish,  which  form  a  covert  for  the  game 
and  for  the  lion.  Occasionally  a  town  may  be  met  with 
where  the  principal  folds  are  now  occupied  by  the  cattle 
of  the  savage  victors.  From  having  Matebele  with  me,  I 
found  it  difficult  to  obtain  local  information  from  the  scat- 
tered and  now  degraded  aborigines  we  occasionally  met, 
who  trembled  before  them,  and  dared  not  to  give  a  satis- 
factory answer  in  the  presence  of  the  men  now  their  masters, 
who  ruled  them  with  a  rod  of  iron. 

"  In  this  neighbourhood  we  were  detained  again  three 
days  by  the  rain,  which  fell  in  torrents  until  the  valleys 
resounded  with  the  roar  of  rivers  and  waterfalls.  Every 
sort  of  vegetation  was  exceedingly  luxuriant,  and  immense 
qua-  "ies  of  native  corn  grew  wild  among  the  ruins  of  the 
towns.  We  at  last  went  on,  but  with  difficulty,  on  account 
of  the  nature  of  the  ground.  The  plains  were  saturated, 
and  the  black  peaty  clay  so  adhesive  that  each  wheel  became 
clogged  with  a  solid  mass,  almost  too  tough  to  be  cleared 
away.  We  had  to  make  towards  the  rising  ground,  where 
the  soil  was  more  sandy  and  free.  This  was  accomplished 
at  the  cost  of  so  much  labour  and  time  that  we  halted  at 
sunset  after  a  short  but  most  oppressive  stage. 

"  Next  day  we  continued  our  course  over  a  picturesque 
country,  and  crossed  many  fine  rivulets.  Towards  evening 
we  came  to  the  Oori  River,  a  pretty  large  stream,  in  which 
sport  the  hippopotamus  and  the  crocodile.  At  this  place 
the  river  passes  through  a  range  of  high  hills,  and  flowing 

12 


i62  STATE  RECEPTION  BY  A  CHIEF. 

N.N.E.  is  joined  by  other  streams,  after  which  it  is  called 
the  Lempopo.  We  crossed  the  hills  by  a  pass,  and  halted 
on  the  banks  of  the  Oori  where  it  enters  the  range,  cross- 
ing next  day,  and  halting  at  a  town  where  we  were  to  await 
orders  as  to  our  future  course.  Next  day  we  went  on,  and 
at  length  came  within  sight  of  the  king's  abode. 

"  Having  preceded  the  waggons  on  horseback,  we  entered 
the  large  public  cattle-fold,  where  were  ranged  in  a  semi- 
circle about  eight  hundred  warriors  in  full  dress.  About 
three  hundred  more  sat  concealed  in  ambush,  perhaps  for 
precaution  or  to  try  our  courage.  We  proceeded  to  the 
centre  of  the  fold,  when  they  beckoned  us  to  dismount. 
We  had  scarcely  reached  the  ground  when  those  who  were 
secreted  at  the  entrance  rushed  in,  shouting  and  leaping 
with  the  most  fantastic  gestures,  so  that  our  horses,  un- 
accustomed to  such  fun,  tried  to  break  away  from  us. 

"  A  profound  silence  followed  for  some  ten  minutes  ;  then 
all  commenced  a  war-song,  stamping  their  feet  in  time  with 
the  music.  No  one  approached,  though  every  eye  was 
fixed  upon  us.  Then  all  was  silent,  and  Mosilikatse  marched 
out  from  behind  the  lines  with  an  interpreter,  and  with 
attendants  following  bearing  meat,  beer,  and  other  food. 
He  gave  us  a  hearty  salutation  and  seemed  overjoyed.  By 
this  time  the  waggons  were  drawing  near,  and  as  he  had 
never  seen  such  things  before  he  desired  to  see  them  walk, 
as  he  called  it.  We  left  the  fold,  the  warriors  maintaining 
their  positions  in  perfect  silence.  As  the  waggons  drew  near 
he  seemed  awestruck,  moving  backward  and  dragging  me 
along  with  him.  When  they  had  halted,  and  the  oxen  were 
unyoked,  he  approached  with  caution,  grasping  me  with  one 
hand  and  holding  the  other  on  his  mouth.  He  spoke  little 
at  first,  but  examined  all  minutely,  especially  the  wheels, 
and  when  told  of  how  many  parts  each  wheel  was  composed 
his  surprise  seemed  to  reach  its  climax.  He  then  returned 
to  the  fold,  where  he  was  received  by  his  warriors  with 
immense  bursts  of  applause. 

"  I  stayed  eight  days,  during  which  I  had  many  inter- 
views with  the  chief  and  received  many  tokens  of  his  friend- 
ship.    I  was  struck  with  the  way  in  which  he  testified  his 


ROBERT  MOFFATS  MESSAGE   TO  HIM.     163 

gratitude.  La}'ing  his  hand  on  my  shoulder  he  said,  '  Mv 
heart  is  all  white  as  milk  ;  I  am  still  wondering  at  the  love 
of  a  stranger  who  never  saw  me.  You  have  fed  me,  you 
have  protected  me,  you  have  carried  me  in  your  arms.  I 
live  to-day  by  you,  a  stranger.' 

"  I  replied  that  I  was  not  aware  of  having  rendered  him 
such  service.  Pointing  to  the  chiefs  who  had  visited  the 
Kuruman  he  instantly  rejoined,  'These  are  my  great  servants 
whom  I  love  ;  they  are  my  eyes  and  ears,  and  what  you  did 
to  them  you  did  to  me.' 

"  I  took  an  early  opportunity  of  telling  him  of  my  object 
as  a  missionary  among  the  Bechwanas,  and  that  I  had  not 
come  to  hunt  or  to  trade.  I  wished  to  return  at  once, 
having  gained  the  object  of  my  journey.  I  told  him  I  was 
a  teacher  from  God,  the  Creator  of  all  things  and  Governor 
among  the  nations,  and  in  visiting  him  I  had  also  in  view 
the  time  when  his  people  also  might  receive  messengers 
from  God  to  tell  them  of  another  and  a  better  world  beyond 
the  grave. 

"  I  had  long  conversations  with  him  on  these  subjects. 
I  took  the  opportunity  of  pointing  out  to  him  the  horrors 
of  war,  and  directed  his  attention  to  the  depopulated 
country  once  swarming  with  inhabitants,  who  had  lived  in 
comparative  peace  and  plenty.  I  told  him  how  I  had  met 
with  only  a  few  wretched  individuals,  the  remnant  of  all 
the  multitudes  that  must  have  been  either  destroyed  or 
scattered.  I  told  him  that  though  his  cattle-posts  were 
numerous  they  were  lost  in  the  immense  and  solitary  region 
which  was  as  a  land  that  mourned,  while  innumerable  bones 
that  strewed  the  plains  seemed  to  call  to  heaven  for  ven- 
geance. He  tried  to  lay  the  blame  on  Mantatees  and  others 
who  had  preceded  him  :  but  time  would  fail  to  tell  of  all 
the  subjects  on  which  we  talked. 

"  I  felt  glad  when  the  day  came  that  I  could  return  home. 
Short  as  my  stay  was,  the  varied  instances  of  despotism 
and  horrid  cruelty  made  me  feel  as  if  I  sojourned  in  the 
tents  of  Kedar.  Everything  I  saw  or  heard  filled  me  with 
melancholy.  I  had  never  before  come  in  contact  with  such 
savage  or  degraded  minds.     Truly  the  dark  places  of  the 


i64  RETURN  HOME. 

earth  are  full  of  the  habitations  of  cruelty.  Let  such  as 
philosophize  on  the  happiness  enjoyed  by  man  in  his  savage 
state,  visit  such  scenes  and  hear  the  ten  thousand  sighs  and 
groans  which  echo  in  these  gloomy  shades,  and  shudder  at 
the  innocent  blood  shed  through  the  length  and  breadth  of 
heathen  lands — and  then,  if  they  can,  tell  the  world  that 
such  are  happy. 

"  Mosilikatse  showed  much  anxiety  to  prolong  my  stay. 
My  engagements  at  home  made  it  impossible  to  delay.  He 
often  made  me  promise  to  visit  him  at  some  future  time 
and  to  stay  a  year.  I  assured  him  I  should  not  cease  to 
remember  him,  and  to  pray  for  him  and  his  people  that  God 
might  send  them  teachers.  As  the  time  drew  near  for  my 
departure  his  attachment  seemed  to  increase,  so  much  that 
some  of  his  people  thought  I  had  given  him  some  kind  of 
medicine  which  made  him  love  me.  He  accompanied  me 
a  short  distance  from  the  town,  when  he  took  my  hand  and 
addressing  me  by  name,  said  :  '  Ramary,  your  visit  to  me 
seems  like  a  dream ;  my  heart  will  follow  you.  Go  in  peace  to 
Kuruman,  and  when  you  come  again  bring  Mamary  with 
you.  Tell  the  white  king  I  wish  to  live  in  friendship.  He 
must  not  allow  the  Batlaro  and  the  Korannas  to  come 
and  annoy  me  as  they  have  done.  Let  the  road  to  the 
Kuruman  for  ever  remain  open.'  As  the  waggons  moved 
off,  he  and  his  men  sat  down  on  the  grass  and  chanted 
some  dirge ;  and  I  walked  away  musing  on  all  the  things 
I  had  seen,  and  on  the  deplorable  condition  of  the  heathen 
world. 

"  His  attention  and  kindness  have  been  unbounded.  He 
appointed  Umbate  to  accompany  me  for  several  days  ;  and 
said  that  at  a  certain  place  on  the  road  I  should  find  a  couple 
of  horns.  This  proved  to  be  some  cattle  which  were  de- 
livered to  me  as  a  present  from  him  at  one  of  the  outposts. 

"After  a  quick  journey  I  reached  Kuruman  in  safety, 
having  been  absent  two  months." 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

VISIT    TO    THE    CAPE. 
1830-1832. 

IN  June  of  the  year  1830,  a  long  -  projected 
journey  to  the  coast  was  carried  out  with  a 
twofold  purpose — to  put  the  two  elder  children 
to  school,  and  to  get  printed  such  parts  of  the  New 
Testament  as  had  been  translated.  On  their  way 
the  Moffats  had  the  pleasure  of  meeting,  at  Philip- 
polis,  the  French  missionaries  Lemue  and  Rolland, 
and  also  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bailie  of  their  own  Society. 
The  Bailies  were  intended  for  the  Kuruman,  and  it 
was  arranged  that  the  whole  party  should  take  up 
their  abode  at  Kuruman  to  await  the  return  of  the 
Moffats  from  the  coast. 

Whilst  the  mother  was  arranging  for  the  children 
at  Salem,  the  Wesleyan  school  near  Grahamstown, 
the  father  started  on  a  journey  to  visit  the  stations 
in  Kaffraria  ;  and  then  finding  that  some  time  must 
pass  before  a  vessel  would  be  leaving  Algoa  Bay, 
and  there  being  no  possibility  of  getting  anything 
printed  in  the  Eastern  province,  he  took  his  manu- 
script in  his  pocket  and  started  on  horseback,  for  a 


i66  MOFFAT  TURNS  PRINTER. 

ride  of  about  four  hundred  miles,  to  Cape  Town. 
By  hiring  relays  from  the  farmers  on  the  road  he 
made  the  journey  in  nine  days,  leaving  his  wife  to 
follow  by  sea. 

At  Bethelsdorp  the  Moffats  found  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Edwards,  who  were  originally  destined  to  the  Bech- 
wana  Mission,  but  had  been  detained  among  the 
Colonial  stations.  It  was  arranged  that  Edwards 
should  also  go  to  Cape  Town,  and  assist  Moffat  in 
carrying  the  Sechwana  books  through  the  press. 

In  Cape  Town  new  difficulties  arose.  No  print- 
ing-office could  undertake  the  work,  small  as  it  was  : 
both  type  and  compositors  were  scarce.  In  this 
strait,  by  the  exertions  of  Colonel  Bird,  Secretary 
to  Government,  the  Government  printing-office  and 
material  were  placed  at  the  disposal  of  the  mission- 
aries ;  but  as  no  one  could  be  spared  to  carry  on  the 
printing,  Moffat  and  Edwards  had  to  set  to  work 
themselves,  with  such  guidance  as  the  one  man  in 
charge  was  able  to  give  them.  He  was  very  willing, 
and  gave  his  assistance  so  well  that  they  were  soon 
able  not  only  to  turn  out  the  books  they  were  printing 
in  fair  style,  but  to  regard  themselves  as  finished 
apprentices.  All  these  things  were  ordered  for  the 
best.  At  this  very  juncture  a  printing-press  came 
into  the  possession  of  the  mission,  and  as  soon  as 
this  could  be  transported  to  the  Kuruman  there 
were  qualified  hands  ready  to  work  it. 

The  intense  exertions  of  this  period,  his  forced 
journey  to  Cape  Town,  the  labours  of  the  press 
and  the  application  of  proof  reading,  with  a  crowd 
of  busdine  enoragements,  were  too  much  even  for 
Moffat's   strength  and  constitution.      He  was  pros- 


DEATH  OF  mi:.  RODY.  167 

trated  by  a  bilious  ft-ver,  and  when  the  time  came 
for  him  to  return  to  Algoa  Bay,  on  his  way  back  to 
his  station  he  was  so  ill  that  he  had  to  be  carried  on 
board  the  ship  on  a  mattress. 

Alary  Moffat  to  Miss  Lees  of  Manchester. 

"  Bethelsdorp,  Sept.  15,  1830. 
"  I  brought  with  me  from  home  two  of  your  letters  un- 
answered, and,  to  make  the  debt  the  heavier,  received  one 
on  the  way  at  Philippolis  containing  the  affecting  intelH- 
gence  of  the  death  of  our  esteemed  father  and  friend,  Roby. 
We  cannot  but  feel  it  very  sensibly,  though  we  were  so  far 
removed  from  the  privilege  of  his  society,  but  with  you  and 
his  bereaved  widow  and  church  we  can  sincerely  sympathize. 
Verily  a  prince  and  a  great  man  is  fallen  in  Israel,  but  our 
consolation  is  that  he  has  finished  a  glorious  course,  and  has 
entered  into  the  joy  of  his  Lord  ;  and  good  and  great  as 
he  was,  the  Lord  of  the  harvest  can  supply  his  place  to  the 
Church.  I  trust  in  this  you  have  attained  a  greater  measure 
of  resignation  than  when  you  last  wrote.  I  know  the 
tenderness  of  your  heart,  and  can  in  some  measure  con- 
ceive of  your  feelings.  Give  my  most  affectionate  regards 
to  Mrs.  Roby,  and  assure  her  that  could  I  have  expressed 
it  she  would  not  have  found  me  wanting,  but  ready  to 
contribute  my  mite  of  sympathy  to  her.  The  assurance 
that  her  loss  is  the  infinite  gain  of  her  dear  departed  must 
suppress  every  repining  feeling,  and  lead  her  only  to  look 
forward  to  that  period  when  she  also  will  mingle  with  the 
sacred  throng.  O  my  friend  !  this  is  a  dying  world.  Almost 
every  packet  of  letters  brings  us  the  intelligence  of  some 
whom  we  have  once  known  and  loved  having  ended  their 
pilgrimage  here  below.  We  shall  lose  all  desire  to  see  our 
native  land,  for  all  our  friends  are  dying  away.  I  recollect 
nearly  seven  years  ago,  when  we  saw  Dr.  Morrison  on  his 
way  to  England,  our  congratulating  him  on  the  prospect  of 
meeting  with  his  friends  at  home.  He  invariably  appeared 
dejected,  and  said  :  '  I  have  no  friends  to  see ;  all  who  love  me 
are  dead,  and  I  feel  alone  in  the  world.'  We  then  wondered 


i6S  CHILDREN  PUT  TO  SCHOOL. 

at  such  remarks,  but,  believe  me,  we  now  begin  to  be  con- 
scious of  a  similar  feeling  ;  two  or  three  more  dead  about 
Manchester,  and  what  will  it  be  to  us  ?  .  .  . 

"  Taking  it  for  granted  that  my  father  will  have  called 
upon  you,  as  I  sent  a  message  to  you  when  I  wrote  from 
Cradock,  I  have  not  mentioned  our  leaving  home,  which 
took  place  on  the  15th  of  June.  We  met  the  French 
missionaries  Lemue  and  Rolland  three  weeks  after  at 
Philippolis ;  arrived  at  Grahamstown  on  the  1st  ultimo, 
and  at  this  place  on  the  ist  instant.  The  distance  is  not 
more  than  a  week  from  Grahamstown  to  Bethelsdorp,  but 
Moffat,  wishing  to  visit  the  stations  in  Kafirland,  set  out  on 
horseback,  and  left  me  to  proceed  with  the  children  to 
Theopolis,  to  get  the  two  elder,  Mary  and  Ann,  in  readiness 
for  school.  We  accordingly  left  them  a  fortnight  ago  at 
Salem,  the  Wesleyan  establishment,  with  considerable  satis- 
f  iction  :  the  strict  attention  paid  to  the  religious  instruction 
■of  the  children  compensates  for  the  want  of  some  ad- 
vantages ;  the  cheapness  of  the  school  and  its  comparative 
•contiguity  to  our  own  part  of  the  country  are  also  induce- 
ments to  have  them  there,  as  keeping  them  at  home  is 
be)'ond  all  doubt  highly  improper.  Hence  you  will  per- 
ceive that  we  are  entering  on  a  new  sort  of  trials.  We 
purpose  calling  to  see  them  as  we  return,  after  which  it  is 
probable  Moffat  will  be  many  years  before  he  sees  them 
•again.  It  is  likely,  however,  that  I  may  come  in  the  course 
of  two  or  three  years,  as  Ave  have  not  friends  to  fulfil  the 
duties  of  a  mother  to  them.  How  happy  are  we,  my  dear 
friend,  to  have  a  covenant  God  to  go  to  in  all  these  straits 
and  difficulties.  Nature  has  its  struggle,  but  we  are  not  to 
confer  with  flesh  and  blood. 

"  Being  disappointed  in  our  expectation  of  meeting  with 
a  vessel  at  Algoa  Bay,  ready  to  .sail  for  the  Cape,  Moffat, 
to  save  time,  has  proceeded  on  horseback  with  his  manu- 
■scripts  ;  as  he  expects  to  be  detained  a  length  of  time 
correcting  for  the  press,  I  am  to  follow  with  the  two 
children,  Robert  and  Helen,  by  sea.  I  expect  to  sail  in 
■about  a  fortnight.  Moffat  has  been  gone  nearly  a  week, 
.1    have  said  nothing  about  our  station,  and  shall  decline 


HORSEBACK  JOURNEY  TO  CAPE  TOWN.     169 

saying  much  till  we  see  it  again.     Suffice  it  to  say  that  we 
left  it  in  a  hopeful  and  prosperous  condition." 

On  his  way  to  Cape  Town,  Moffat  had  visited  his 
old  friends  the  Andersons,  formerly  of  GriquaTown, 
then  settled  at  Pacaltsdorp,  one  of  the  Society's 
stations  within  the  Colony,  from  which  the  follow- 
ing was  written: 

"  August  17,  1830,  Sabbath  night. 

"  My  dear  Mary, — Through  the  goodness  of  God  I 
reached  this  place  at  nine  o'clock  last  night,  which  was 
more  than  I  expected  after  being  detained  more  than  half 
a  day  at  Kromme  River  waiting  on  horses.  This  circum- 
stance obliged  me  to  ride  a  seven  hours'  stage  during  the 
night,  and  thirteen  hours  on  Saturday,  to  be  here  before 
Sunday.  I  was  treated  with  the  greatest  kindness  and 
attention  by  the  Boers  wherever  I  called,  even  though  I 
told  them  all  I  was  a  '  Zendeling,'  Stephanus  Ferreira,  a 
notorious  enemy  to  missionaries,  whom  I  the  most  dreaded, 
was  the  most  kind  and  did  the  most  to  enable  me  to 
proceed  without  loss  of  time.  Had  I  acquainted  the  Field 
Cornets  with  letters,  as  is  the  custom,  I  could  have  procured 
fresh  horses  every  four  or  five  hours  ;  but  not  having  used 
this  precaution  my  arrival  in  the  Cape  will  be  very  un- 
certain. From  George  to  the  Cape  is  twenty-five  hours' 
ride  on  horseback — further  than  from  Uitenhage  to  George 
— so  that  I  may  scarcely  reach  the  Cape  on  Saturday.  But 
if  health  be  continued  and  horses  at  hand  I  may  reach  a 
day  sooner.  The  Lord  willing,  I  leave  this  to-morrow 
morning  at  three  o'clock. 

"  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Anderson  received  me  with  great  kind- 
ness. They  scarcely  knew  me  when  I  first  entered  the 
house.  They  were  greatly  disappointed  when  they  heard 
that  you  were  not  following.  Many  have  been  their 
inquiries  respecting  the  Griquas  and  Bechwanas,  and  they 
do  rejoice  in  what  is  doing  among  them.  '  Had  I  youth 
on  my  side,'  says  Mr.  A.,  laying  his  hand  on  his  pate,  '  I 
would  spend  it  among  the  Bechwanas.'  He  is  much  aged, 
and  the  sound  of  the  grinders  being  low,  his  speech  is  not 


170  BIRTH  OF  A  DAUGHTER. 

so  clear  as  formerly.  This  evening  he  ran  to  hide  his 
tears  when  I  was  describing  the  pleasing  change  which 
has  lately  taken  place  at  Griqua  Town.  Mrs.  A.  takes 
the  liveliest  interest  in  the  welfare  of  our  missions  in  that 
quarter." 

Mary  Moffat  continues  the  narrative  : 

"Lattakoo  or  Litako,  Sept.  15,  1831. 

"  My  ever  dear  Father,  —  I  am  quite  overcome 
when  I  think  that  I  have  three  of  your  letters  by  me 
unanswered,  but  trust  to  your  considerateness  to  make 
allowance  for  our  apparent  neglect  ;  for  surely  since  we 
came  to  the  country  we  have  never  experienced  such  a 
bustling  life  as  during  the  last  year  and  a  half  When  on 
the  Sneeuvvbergen,  I  wrote  a  hasty  scrawl  to  Miss  Lees, 
from  which  you  would  hear  part  of  our  history  since  I 
wrote  to  you,  I  think  in  November,  from  Cape  Town.  It 
was  then  my  intention  to  write  often  to  my  friends,  but 
the  press  of  business  and  Robert's  subsequent  illness 
prevented  me.  When  we  embarked  at  the  Cape  I  felt 
quite  worn  out,  and  the  tedious  voyage  and  necessary 
attention  to  Robert  produced  fatigue  from  which  I  did 
not  speedily  recover.  At  the  same  time  there  was  so 
much  to  do  with  the  landing  of  our  goods  and  getting 
them  off  from  Bethelsdorp  that  Robert  did  not  write  at 
all  to  England,  he  being  still  weak  and  easily  fatigued. 
The  Lord  has  been  merciful  and  gracious,  and,  notwith- 
standing our  unfaithfulness  to  Him,  has  loaded  us  with 
lovingkindness  and  tender  mercies.  During  our  stay  in 
the  Colony  my  own  health  greatly  improved,  and,  as  you 
would  hear,  on  the  25th  of  March  I  was  again  made  the 
joyful  mother  of  a  fine  daughter  whom  we  have  baptized 
Elizabeth,  after  my  worthy  friend.  Miss  Lees. 

"  My  dear  Robert's  health  is  now  completely  established, 
and  he  is  able  to  pursue  his  usual  avocations  with  his 
accustomed  vigour.  We  left  our  dear  Mary  and  Ann 
much  improved,  and  in  good  health  and  spirits,  after 
having  been  absent  from  them  a  half-year.     At  Grahams- 


PRINTING  PRESS  SET  UP  AT  KURUMAN.    171 

town  we  met  with  almost  all  of  the  Scottish  Brethren 
from  Kafirland,  as  well  as  those  of  our  own  Society. 
They  were  come  to  the  missionary  meeting  there,  and 
we  had  our  babe  baptized  among  them  by  Mr,  Brownlee, 
in  the  house  of  our  missionary  Monro,  where  most  of 
us  were  lodged.  From  there  we  went  to  Graaff  Reinett 
by  way  of  Somerset,  both  which  places  are  blessed  with 
ministers  from  Scotland,  holy  men  of  God  ;  Mr.  Morgan, 
of  Somerset,  lately  received  a  wife  from  his  own  land, 
an  excellent  woman.  Murray,  of  Graaff  Reinett,  is  a  re- 
nowned friend  of  missions.  His  house  is  open  to  all 
missionaries.  We  stayed  there  a  fortnight,  making  fur- 
ther arrangements  for  the  conveyance  of  our  baggage, 
and  arrived  all  well  about  the  end  of  June  at  the  Kuru- 
man.  Here  we  found  things  going  on  well  ;  but  one  of 
the  members  had,  alas !  turned  to  his  idols,  his  young 
wife,  whom  he  had  put  away,  having  proved  a  snare  to 
him,  and  we  are  sorry  to  say  we  do  not  perceive  in  him 
the  penitence  which  is  desirable. 

"  The  French  missionaries  had  both  been  very  ill,  but 
were  recovered.  Mr.  Lemue,  however,  continues  sickly. 
Mr.  Hamilton  has  judiciously  given  up  his  house  and 
garden  to  the  Edwardses,  and  they  and  the  Bailies  share  it 
at  present.  As  we  were  anxious  that  Mr.  Hamilton  should 
be  as  comfortably  circumstanced  as  possible,  and  we  knew 
he  would  rather  live  with  us  than  with  the  new-comers,  it 
is  so  settled  that  he  boards  with  us.  We  have  also  the 
mason,  so  that  my  famil}'  is  now  large,  and  may  apolo- 
gize in  some  measure  for  my  long  silence  ;  since  we  came 
home  I  have  had  no  leisure. 

"  The  printing  press  is  set  up,  and  has  been  at  work 
printing  lessons  for  the  school.  It  has  been  a  formidable 
work  to  bring  it  and  to  set  it  going  ;  but  the  advantages  of 
it  will  be  inestimable  to  the  mission.  They  are,  however, 
short  of  suitable  type  for  lessons,  though  they  brought  all 
which  was  to  be  found  in  Cape  Town,  Bethelsdorp,  and 
Griqua  Town.  Mr.  Edwards  will  be  found  admirably 
fitted  to  supply  Mr.  Hamilton's  place,  in  many  things 
where  his  strenijth   now   fails.     Since  we  came  home  he 


172     MOSILIKATSE  ATTACKED  BY  GRIQUAS. 

has  been  chiefly  engaged  making  apph'ances  for  the  print- 
ing office,  and  later  at  the  printing  itself  The  building  of 
our  new  church  is  now  to  be  resumed.  Five  or  six  waggons 
are  to-morrow  to  leave  the  place  for  wood  for  the  same. 
While  we  were  in  the  Colony  Robert  solicited  subscrip- 
tions for  it,  and  raised  about  a  hundred  pounds  sterling. 
Nearly  twenty  pounds  came  from  Government  House, 
besides  what  was  given  by  other  officials.  It  is  intended 
to  be  built  free  of  expense  to  the  Society,  Millen,  the 
mason,  gives  his  work,  and  only  requires  his  board.  The 
old  church  is  now  being  enlarged  by  Arend,  being  much 
too  small  even  for  the  school. 

"  You  will  naturally  be  inquiring  what  are  the  French 
missionaries  going  to-do.-*  Mr.  Rolland,  after  his  recovery, 
went  to  the  Bahurutse  and  looked  out  a  place,  and  pro- 
mised to  go  immediately  ;  but  Mr.  Lemue's  health  being  so 
bad,  his  going  at  present  is  out  of  the  question.  Mr.  Rol- 
land has  been  busily  employed  making  a  plough  and 
mending  his  waggon,  and  is  ready  to  go.  He  has  also  got 
a  mason,  a  Scotsman,  a  Mr.  Hume,  to  go  with  him.  He 
came  here  on  trading  business.  A  painful  circumstance 
has,  however,  taken  place  in  the  country  which  may  cause 
them  some  trouble,  and  renders  it  extremely  doubtful 
whether  they  ought  to  go  at  present.  You  have  heard  of 
Mosilikatse,  the  Zulu  chief  whom  Robert  visited  two  years 
ago.  He  is  a  desperate  tyrant,  and  subjugates  all  the 
tribes  about  him.  He  is  consequently  very  rich,  and  his 
cattle  have  proved  a  bait  to  those  who  ought  to  have  known 
better.  A  large  hunting  party  of  more  than  three  hun- 
dred men  left  Griqualand  four  or  five  months  ago,  headed 
by  Berend,  chief  at  Butswap.  Many  of  the  Philippolis 
Griquaswere  also  of  the  number,  and  some  English  traders 
to  whom  these  Griquas  were  indebted.  When  they  came 
by  the  outposts  of  the  Zulu  monarch,  instead  of  hunting 
elephants,  they  fell  upon  his  cattle,  took  three  posts,  and 
killed  many  of  his  young  soldiers,  who  generally  reside  at 
such  places.  This,  of  course,  was  not  to  be  suffered  with 
impunity,  and  the  enraged  savages  pursued  and  surprised 
them  while  asleep.     The  battle  was  horrible.     Many  were 


FRENCH  MISSION  TO  THE  BAHURUTSE.     173 

slain  on  both  sides,  and  but  few  Griquas  have  come  out. 
They  suppose  many  of  their  number  are  still  wandering 
in  the  interior,  but  we  apprehend  their  wanderings  have 
for  ever  ceased.  When  the  traders  who  were  with  them 
found  that  their  object  was  a  commando,  they  left  them 
and  made  the  best  of  their  way  back  to  Butswap.  From 
what  I  have  written  you  will  judge  how  delicate  is  the 
position  of  our  dear  French  brethren.  The  Barolong 
joined  Berend  in  his  iniquitous  project,  but  the  Bahurutse 
would  not.  Mr.  Millen,  Arend,  and  many  from  our  station 
were  at  the  same  time  in  the  interior,  and,  of  course,  made 
for  home.  They  were  met  by  numbers  of  Mosilikatse's 
people  after  the  battle,  and  though  completely  in  their 
power,  they  received  no  harm,  on  it  being  found  that  they 
were  from  the  Kuruman.  We  have  since  heard  that  two 
messengers  were  on  their  way  hither  from  the  Zulus,  and 
have  been  murdered  by  the  Barolong." 

Mary  Moffat  again  writes  : 

"LiTAKO  (Lattakoo),  Fcb.i^,,  1832. 

"  My  dear  Father, —  ...  If  Miss  Lees  received 
mine  of  the  2nd  ultimo  you  will  anticipate  what  I  am 
going  to  add.  Our  beloved  and  interesting  child  Betsy 
is  no  longer  an  inhabitant  of  this  lower  world.  Her  freed 
spirit  took  its  happy  flight  on  the  night  of  the  4th 
of  January.  As  parents  we  do  feel,  and  it  is  necessary 
we  should  feel,  for  He  does  nothing  in  vain  who  has 
afflicted  us.  .  .  . 

"  I  scarcely  know  where  to  begin,  having  forgotten  the 
contents  of  my  last.  I  have  some  impression  that  I  in- 
formed you  of  Mr.  Rolland's  departure  to  settle  at  the 
Bahurutse.  He  was,  however,  obliged  to  return,  not  being 
able  to  get  his  attendants  to  accompany  him  on  account  of 
the  enraged  Mosilikatse,  who  had  been  so  villainously 
treated  by  old  Berend.  For  some  time,  however,  all  has 
been  quiet.  Mr.  Lemue's  health  seems  to  be  established. 
Mr.  Rolland  has  had  the  smallpox.  Mr.  Pelissier  has 
joined  them,  and  they  again  left  us  on  the  15th  in  good 
spirits.     They  have  met  with  many  discouragements,  but 


174    -EK/L  RESULTS  OF  THE  GRIQUA  RAID. 

we  hope  and  trust  they  will  now  succeed.  Moffat  has  sent 
with  them  a  messenger  to  Mosilikatse  to  explain  the 
matter  of  Berend  to  the  poor,  ignorant  savage.  Robert 
would  have  gone  himself,  but  could  not  be  spared  at  present 
from  the  place.  The  printing  and  the  building  of  the  new 
church  require  much  attention. 

"  Robert  and  I  have  necessarily  had  a  good  deal  to  do 
for  the  French  mission,  but  it  is  all  one  cause,  and  we 
could  sympathize  with  them  ;  having  enough  to  damp 
their  zeal,  they  require  Christian  sympathy  and  kindness. 
I  feel  attached  to  them  as  my  own  brothers,  and  have 
greatly  enjoyed  their  company." 

The  raid  of  Berend  and  his  Griquas  which  had 
ended  so  disastrously  to  themselves  left  behind  it 
consequences  which  at  length  proved  the  ruin  of 
the  infant  mission  of  the  Paris  Society  in  the  Bahu- 
rutse  country.  Mosilikatse  was  himself  a  new-comer 
from  the  far  east,  then  an  unknown  region.  He 
knew  but  little  of  what  lay  to  the  southward  of  him. 
It  was  difficult  for  him  to  discriminate  between 
Griquas  and  white  men,  or  to  understand  how  the 
former  coming  from  the  country  of  the  white  men 
could  do  what  they  had  done  to  him  without  being 
called  to  account  by  the  Government  of  the  white 
people  which  he  had  been  taught  to  regard  as  wise 
and  just.  He  had  learned  to  place  unbounded  con- 
fidence in  his  friend  Moffat,  and  had  formed  an 
exaggerated  notion  of  his  power  and  importance 
among  his  own  people.  It  was  hard  to  make  these 
thingfs  clear  to  him.  It  was  natural  that  when  the 
three  French  missionaries  entered  the  country  of 
the  Bahurutse,  which  had  become  tributary  to  him, 
he  should  a  little  hesitate.  He  professed  himself 
satisfied  with  the  explanations  given  by  a  messenger 


FRENCH  MISSIONAPJES  HAVE  TROUBLE.     175 

whom  Moffat  had  sent  with  them,  and  wished  one 
of  them  to  repair  to  his  own  headquarters.  Pelissier 
accordingly  did  so,  but  found  himself  under  a  sort 
of  restraint  from  returning  to  his  companions.  This 
naturally  alarmed  the  missionaries,  new  as  they 
were  to  the  country,  and  not  yet  ripe  in  the  ex- 
perience that  the  only  way  to  get  on  with  people 
such  as  these  were  was  to  treat  them  with  perfect 
confidence.  The  missionaries  would  probably  have 
come  right,  but  their  native  attendants  took  the 
alarm  and  were  determined  to  go  back  with  or 
without  them. 

The  motive  of  Pelissier's  detention  was  probably 
two- fold.  He  would  be  useful  as  a  hostage  if  it 
should  prove  that  Mosilikatse's  fears  were  well 
founded  about  the  missionaries  being  privy  to  some 
further  raid  upon  him  from  the  southward  ;  and, 
moreover,  a  large  number  of  guns  had  fallen  into 
his  hands  by  his  victory  over  the  Griquas,  and  he 
wanted  some  one  to  put  them  in  order  and  to  teach 
his  people  to  use  them. 

It  was  difficult  for  him  to  see  why  the  missionaries 
should  object  to  supply  him  with  ammunition,  of 
which  indeed  they  had  but  little  for  their  own  use, 
even  had  they  been  willing  to  serve  his  purpose  in 
this  way.  It  soon  became  evident  to  them  that 
their  position  would  be  untenable,  and  when  at 
length  Pelissier  was  allowed  to  return  to  them  they 
at  once  grasped  the  opportunity  and  left  the  Bahu- 
rutse  country  and  started  for  Kuruman.  They  were 
met  by  Moffat  himself,  who  was  on  his  way  to  see 
whether  he  could  not  smooth  matters  for  them.  It 
was  not  to  be,  however,  and  this  first  mission,   in 


176     ESTABLISH  THEMSELVES  AT  MOTITO. 

some  measure  directed  to  the  Matebele  themselves, 
was  a  failure.  In  the  providence  of  God  what  was 
their  loss  was  the  great  gain  of  another  South 
African  people,  the  Basuto,  under  Moshesh,  to 
whom  the  French  gave  their  attention.  Their  mis- 
sion in  Basutoland  has  been  most  prosperous  and 
satisfactory  in  spite  of  great  trials  caused  mainly  by 
wars  between  the  natives  and  the  Colonists. 

Towards  the  end  of  the  year  1832  Dr.  Philip 
visited  Kuruman,  and  it  was  arranged  that  Rolland 
and  his  companions,  who  saw  no  immediate  prospect 
of  re-opening  their  work  with  the  Bahurutse,  should 
commence  a  station  at  Motito,  about  thirty-six  miles 
to  the  north-east  of  Kuruman,  until  time  should 
open  a  way  for  further  undertakings.  The  appeal 
of  Moshesh  afforded  that  opening.  Motito  long 
remained  the  only  station  of  the  Paris  Society  in 
Bechwanaland,  and  it  v/as  after  many  years  handed 
over  to  the  care  of  the  missionaries  at  Kuruman. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

MARY  MOFFAT  TRAVELS  TO  THE  COLONY. 
1833-1834. 

EARLY  in  1833  Mary  Moffat  started  for  the 
Colony.  It  was  more  than  two  years  since 
she  had  seen  the  daughters  who  were  at 
school.  Her  heart  was  naturally  drawn  to  them. 
They  had  of  course  friends,  but  not  of  their  own 
kindred.  Even  for  the  sake  of  visiting  them  she 
did  not  feel  that  it  would  be  right  of  her  to  take  her 
husband  away  from  his  work.  She  brought  her 
mind  to  undertake  the  journey  alone.  It  involved 
an  absence  of  five  months.  Her  escort  through  the 
wilderness  for  a  good  part  of  that  time  was  to 
consist  of  Bechwanas  who  a  few  years  before  were 
mere  barbarians,  not  to  say  savages. 

It  was  an  additional  comfort  to  her  to  be  able  to 
do  good  service  to  the  mission  by  her  journey.  She 
brought  up  from  the  coast  a  large  quantity  of 
printing  material  which  otherwise  would  have  pro- 
bably been  many  months  finding  its  way  from.  Port 
Elizabeth  to  Kuruman. 

13 


178  AN  ESCORT   OF  NATIVES. 

Maiy  Moffat  to  Mrs.  Roby  of  Manchester. 

"  LiTAKO,   Oct.  I,  1833, 

"  You  would  hear  that  I  had  visited  the  Colony  to  see 
our  dear  children.  It  was  of  course  no  pleasing  task  to 
take  such  a  journey  alone,  but  it  appeared  to  us  that  we 
were  bound  in  duty  to  separate  for  that  time.  It  was 
necessary  to  know  how  the  children  were  getting  on  and 
to  attend  to  their  wants  ;  and  it  could  not  be  Moffat's 
duty  to  leave  the  station  again  so  soon,  and  therefore  we 
determined  to  part.  I  was  more  than  five  months  absent, 
having  arrived  on  the  7th  of  last  month,  nearly  a  month 
later  than  was  my  intention,  having  taken  with  me  a 
waggon  expressly  to  bring  type  and  printing  paper  for 
the  Society,  and  having  to  await  the  arrival  of  the  same. 
We  have,  however,  satisfaction  in  the  step,  Moffat's  presence 
having  been  exceedingly  requisite  on  the  station,  and  much 
has  been  accomplished  both  in  the  spiritual  work  and  in 
the  temporal,  and  all  has  been  well. 

"The  maids  also,  whom  I  left  to  manage  domestic  matters, 
have  far  exceeded  my  expectations,  so  that  he  had  very 
little  to  trouble  him  in  that  respect,  and  I  see  that  my 
labour  in  instructing  them  in  these  matters  is  not  lost. 
Every  member  of  the  mission  family  enjoyed  uninterrupted 
health  the  whole  time.  My  journey  was  exceedingly  pros- 
perous, nothing  worthy  the  name  of  an  accident  having 
taken  place,  though  the  waggons  had  extraordinary  weight 
upon  them.  My  travelling  company  of  servants  consisted 
of  five  Bechwana  men  and  one  Hottentot  as  drivers,  leaders, 
and  loose  cattle-drivers,  and  a  girl  to  nurse  my  baby.  In 
•one  of  these  men,  Paul,  one  of  the  first  converts,  I  had 
great  comfort.  Not  having  my  husband  with  me  I  had 
occasion  to  put  the  more  confidence  in  him,  and  truly  it 
was  not  misplaced.  He  has  proved  himself  faithful,  did 
everything  in  his  power  to  make  me  comfortable,  and 
managed  the  rest  of  them  admirably.  I  assure  you  that  I 
had  continual  joy  in  him  as  a  brother  in  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.  Ever  since  his  conversion,  nearly  five  years  ago, 
we  have  esteemed  him  highly,  but  now  justly  more  than 


ARRANGEMENTS  FOR    THE   CHILDREN.    179 

ever.  I  know,  my  dear  Mrs.  Roby,  you  will  bless  God 
for  His  goodness  to  us  in  this  transaction  of  our  lives.  I 
am  a  poor  weak  creature,  mentally  and  bodily,  but  He 
has  graciously  supported  me  through  the  whole  of  it.  I 
found  it  particularly  pleasant  to  be  constantly  feeling  my 
dependence  on  Him,  having  no  earthly  protector  near  me, 
and  in  numerous  instances  had  occasion  to  admire  His 
providential  care  over  us.  He  was  indeed  to  me  better 
than  all  my  fears,  for  I  am  too  ready  to  suspect  that  the 
rod  of  correction  is  about  to  be  used.  By  this  you  may 
guess  what  a  wayward  child  I  am. 

"  I  left  the  three  elder  children  at  school.  The  two  girls 
have  I  think  made  as  much  progress  as  could  be  expected 
in  the  time.  We  have  been  desirous  of  making  Mary 
acquainted  with  the  Infant  School  system  before  her  return 
home  ;  but  she  is  still  rather  too  young  to  leave  school, 
unless  she  could  have  been  placed  with  a  person  who  would 
have  attended  to  her  education,  such  as  Miss  Tyndall — but 
the  dear  woman  has  been  obliged  to  retire  from  labour  on 
account  of  bad  health.  Should  she  recover  her  strength 
the  good  people  at  Grahamstown  are  anxious  to  secure  her 
future  labours  for  their  children,  and  this  would  be  the  very 
thing  for  us.  Should  there  be  no  probability  of  accom- 
plishing this  object,  we  shall  most  likely  soon  get  Mary 
home  by  some  opportunity. 

"And  now,  my  dear  Mrs.  Roby,  I  must  conclude.  Will 
you  forgive  all  my  neglect  of  you  ?  I  know  you  will. 
Surely  I  need  not  say  how  happy  I  shall  be  to  hear  from 
you  at  any  time  ;  and  whilst  you  live  do  not  forget  to  pray 
for  us.  I  trust  the  church  at  Grosvenor  Street  will  never 
lose  the  missionary  zeal  which  has  so  long  characterized  it, 
and  into  which  our  late  beloved  friend  so  warmly  entered. 
I  suppose  you  do  not  often  see  my  poor  old  father,  I  fear 
his  health  is  declining,  but  he  appears  to  be  happy  and 
resigned  ;  but  my  anxieties  about  him  can  only  cease  with 
his  life." 

"  LiTAKO,  March  20,  1834. 

"  Do,  my  dear  father,  write  as  often  as  you  can,  and 
forgive  us  that  we  are  not  more  attentive  to  you.     Robert 


i8o    FELLOW-LABOURERS  IN  THE  MISSION. 

is  in  a  perpetual  bustle  ;  the  printing  is  a  wonderful  addition 
to  the  work  here,  and  the  extreme  anxiety  of  his  mind  to 
give  everything  as  correctly  as  possible  causes  him  incessant 
mental  labour.  Whatever  he  is  doing  or  however  engaged 
we  are  sure  to  find  that  his  mind  is  occupied  with  some 
knotty  passage  of  Scripture  about  which  commentators  and 
critics  cannot  agree.  Besides  this,  the  care  of  the  whole 
station  spiritual  and  temporal  is  upon  him.  Mr.  Hamilton 
is  an  excellent  and  laborious  man,  and  his  labours  on  the 
place  are  invaluable,  but  he  has  not  an  ability  for  managing 
the  affairs  of  a  mission,  neither  have  the  Directors  ever 
thought  proper  to  invest  him  with  that  office.  Mr.  Edwards 
is  a  laborious  and  active  schoolmaster,  and  the  rest  of  his 
time  is  filled  up  with  work  in  connection  with  the  press.  If 
my  dear  Robert  had  not  had  an  iron  constitution  he  must 
long  ago  have  sunk  under  his  manifold  labours,  so  that 
I  really  feel  delicate  about  pressing  him  even  to  write  a 
letter.  .  .  . 

"  I  have  the  happiness  to  inform  you  that  our  dear 
Rolland  has  married  Miss  Tyndall,  and  we  expect  them 
daily,  when  Moffat  and  all  who  can  be  spared  from  this 
place  are  to  set  off  for  the  Bahurutse  for  roof  timber  for  the 
chapel,  as  they  could  not  get  away  last  winter.  Mosilikatse 
has  full  possession  of  that  country,  and  gives  no  rest  till 
Moffat  goes  to  see  him.  We  have  at  present  a  messenger 
of  his  in  the  house  who  came  out  with  Hume,  two  months 
ago.  Mr.  Millen  was  out  about  two  months  before  that, 
having  got  into  a  district  of  country  where  a  stinging  fly 
abounds,  lost  all  his  oxen,  and  actually  left  his  waggon  in 
care  of  another  trader  in  the  same  predicament,  and  came 
hither  on  foot,  a  distance  of  four  or  five  hundred  miles  from 
the  north-east.  He  mustered  oxen,  took  another  waggon, 
and  set  off  again  in  a  fortnight  to  fetch  his  property  and 
add  more  to  it.  With  him,  also,  we  had  two  messengers 
from  Mosilikatse,  and  with  him  they  returned.  He  pro- 
fesses the  most  unbounded  confidence  in  Moffat,  and  we 
hope  it  will  be  useful  in  the  establishment  of  a  mission 
there." 


ANOTHER  ATTACK  ON  MOSILIKATSE.     i8i 
Robert  Moffat  to  his  brot/ier  Richard. 

July  28,  1834. 

"  Much  of  my  time  has  been  taken  up  in  acquiring  the 
language  under  innumerable  trying  circumstances,  and  now 
that  I  am  able  to  translate  I  view  every  moment  as  doubly 
precious.  I  am  trying  to  redeem  much  precious  time  which 
has  been  lost.  I  see  nothing  in  the  world  worth  looking 
after  if  it  has  not  a  direct  reference  to  the  glory  and 
extension  of  the  Redeemer's  kingdom  ;  and  were  we  always 
able  to  have  a  lively  view  of  the  myriads  v/ho  are  descending 
to  the  horrible  pit,  our  zeal  would  be  proportionate.  Much 
depends  on  us  who  have  received  the  ministry  of  reconcilia- 
tion, assured  that  God  our  Saviour  willeth  the  salvation  of 
all. 

"  A  short  time  ago  we  mustered  a  number  of  men  and 
waggons,  and  Mr.  Hamilton  and  I  set  off  to  the  Bahurutse 
country  to  bring  timber  for  the  roof  of  our  new  church, 
leaving  Mr.  Edwards  on  the  station.  We  had  just  reached 
within  little  more  than  two  days  of  Mosilikatse's  residence, 
near  which  the  timber  stood,  when  a  messenger  overtook 
us  with  the  information  that  Jan  Bloom  with  a  commando 
was  gone  to  attack  Mosilikatse.  This  obliged  us  to  return, 
for  had  we  proceeded  we  should  in  all  probability  have 
been  placed  in  a  most  distressing  dilemma,  as  the  scene  of 
conflict  was  within  sight  of  the  spot  where  we  should  have 
encamped.  As  we  could  hav^e  neither  conscientiously 
helped  the  one  nor  fought  against  the  other,  the  event 
would  likely  have  been  fatal  to  some  if  not  to  all  of  us. 

"  Mosilikatse's  messenger,  who  had  been  with  me  for 
some  months,  I  sent  forward  from  the  place  at  which  we 
returned.  Jan  Bloom,  it  is  said,  shot  a  great  number  of 
the  younger  soldiery,  but  he  and  his  party,  who  were  all  on 
horseback,  were  entirely  defeated,  and  narrowly  escaped 
with  a  handful  of  cattle,  losing  some  men  and  horses.  It 
is  said  he  will  go  again  next  month.  If  so  I  fear  it  will  be 
never  to  return.  Mr.  Millen  passed  us  by  another  road 
coming  out,  and  died  in  the  desert  beyond  old  Lattakoo. 
He  seems  to  have  died  of  a  bilious  fever.  Two  of  his  men 
died  before  him  on  the  road.     We  were  much  affected  to 


i82         MILLEN'S  LONELY  DEATH-BED. 

hear  of  it.  He  had  almost  become  Hke  one  of  our  family. 
He  has  done  much  for  this  station.  Mosilikatse  sent  with 
him  two  messengers  to  me,  who  are  still  here.  He  may  yet 
be  exasperated  to  do  dreadful  things  on  this  side.  None 
of  the  Bechwana  tribes  in  this  part  of  the  country  have 
ever  yet  done  him  any  injury,  and  he  professes  friendship 
on  that  account,  but  the  professed  friendship  of  a  savage 
monarch  is  little  to  be  trusted." 

Mary  Moffat  to  her  FatJier. 

Attgztst  20,  1834. 

"  I  forget  whether  I  told  you  that  Mr.  Millen,  our  mason, 
was  away  in  the  interior,  seeking  ivory.  We  were  daily 
expecting  him,  and  indeed  he  was  not  far  from  us,  but 
never  arrived  here  !  His  waggons  and  those  of  this  place 
passed  each  other  in  the  desert,  about  a  half-day's  journey 
apart.  Had  they  been  upon  the  same  road  they  would 
just  have  seen  him  to  close  his  eyes  in  death,  but  this 
privilege  was  denied  to  poor  Millen.  He  had  none  but 
Bechwana  attendants,  and  they,  worn-out  with  fatigue  with 
travelling  night  and  day  to  bring  him  home,  had  slept 
while  he  breathed  his  last.  They  afterwards  did  their  best 
to  bring  him  to  Motito  for  burial,  but  it  was  impossible, 
and  they  reluctantly  committed  his  remains  to  the  dust  in 
the  desert.  The  grave  is  on  a  plain,  but  in  a  clump  of 
bushes — rather  a  pretty  spot.  It  is  remarkable  that  all  those 
who  came  out  on  foot  are  dead,  and  we  suppose  the  effects 
were  latent  for  some  months.  To  the  north  of  the  Zulu 
country  a  bilious  fever  attacked  several  of  his  people,  and 
he  feelingly  laments  in  his  journal  that  he  has  no  medicine 
to  give  them.  Before  they  reached  Mosilikatse's  one  of 
them  died.  The  day  they  left  Mosilikatse's  he  himself 
sickened  ;  two  days  after  another  man  died,  and  three  or 
four  days  after,  he  himself.  He  said  nothing  in  his  illness, 
but  one  day  told  his  people  to  drive  on  without  regard  to 
oxen  or  anything  else,  as  he  thought  more  of  their  number 
would  die. 

"  There  is  great  obscurity  on  his  eternal  state.  He 
possessed  much  knowledge  on  religious  subjects  ;  he  loved 


UNIVERSAL  REGRET,  183 

the  cause  and  people  of  God,  but  never  decided.  He  was 
the  child  of  pious  parents,  who  died  when  he  was  very 
young,  and  his  reverence  for  sacred  things  was  great  His 
Bible  was  found  in  his  bed,  and  his  driver  testifies  that  he 
read  much  in  it.  He  was  much  respected,  and  every  heart 
was  melancholy,  not  only  Europeans,  but  natives.  I  think 
you  know  that  he  finished  the  walls  of  our  church  last 
winter — the  last  labour  of  his  hands,  for  which  he  charged 
nothing  but  his  board. 

"  We  have  for  some  months  been  expecting  the  expedi- 
tion for  Central  Africa,  which  is  not  yet  arrived  ;  nor  have 
we  had  any  news  whatever  from  the  Colony  for  two 
months." 


CHAPTER  XX. 

A  SCIENTIFIC  EXPEDITION. 

1835. 

EARLY  in  1835  an  expedition  reached  Kuruman. 
At  the  head  of  it  was  Dr.  Andrew  Smith.  He 
was  accompanied  by  several  EngHsh  assistants 
and  by  an  officer  and  a  few  men  of  the  98th  Regi- 
ment, making  up  a  somewhat  imposing  party,  and  a 
caravan  of  seven  waggons.  The  object  was  scientific, 
being  promoted  by  the  members  of  an  association  at 
the  Cape  with  a  Httle  assistance  from  Government. 

Dr.  Smith  found  the  Moffats  in  great  trouble. 
The  summer  had  been  unusually  hot,  and  this  cir- 
cumstance, combined  with  exhaustion  from  overwork, 
had  prostrated  the  missionary  with  a  severe  attack 
of  bilious  fever  :  from  which  he  had  scarcely  re- 
covered when  his  wife  was  brought  very  near  the 
gates  of  death.  After  the  birth  of  a  son  on  the 
tenth  of  March  she  seemed  to  be  better,,  but  soon 
relapsed  into  a  state  of  such  debility  that  for  many 
days  there  seemed  no  hope.  It  was  a  special  sub- 
ject of  thankfulness  that  at  such  a  time  there  should 
have  been  on  the  spot  a  medical  man  of  Dr.  Andrew 
Smith's  skill  ;    and   that,   too,   exercised   with    such 


MOFFAT  ACCOMPANIES  IT.  185 

tender  care  and  assiduity  as  might  have  been  looked 
for  in  a  dear  brother  rather  than  in  a  comparative 
stranger.  It  was  the  beginning  of  a  Hfelong  friend- 
ship, for  the  Moffats  could  never  forget  the  man 
who  had  come  to  them  like  an  angel  out  of  heaven 
in  their  time  of  trouble. 

The  members  of  the  expedition  were  for  some 
months  engaged  in  the  country  round  Kuruman  ; 
but  as  the  doctor's  main  object  was  to  get  farther 
into  the  interior,  he  prevailed  upon  Moffat  to  ac- 
company him  as  far  as  Mosilikatse's  headquarters. 
He  left  about  the  tenth  of  May.  His  main  object 
was  of  course  to  aid  the  expedition,  but  he  had  other 
important  matters  in  view.  The  new  church,  the 
stone  walls  of  which  had  long  been  raised  to  their 
full  height,  could  not  be  roofed  with  such  timber  as 
was  to  be  obtained  about  Kuruman.  From  what  he 
had  seen  on  his  former  visit  to  Mosilikatse  he  was 
convinced  that  what  was  required  was  to  be  obtained 
in  the  dominions  of  that  chief  There  was  also  a 
prospect  of  the  American  missionaries  seeking  a 
place  in  which  to  work,  and  he  felt  that  he  might  be 
the  means  of  preparing  the  way  for  them  in  Mosi- 
likatse's country.  All  these  considerations  over- 
came his  reluctance  to  leave  his  work  at  Kuruman 
and  his  wife  scarcely  recovered.  The  following 
extracts  formed  only  a  small  part  of  a  copious 
journal  giving  a  minute  account  of  each  day's  pro- 
ceedings. The  first  quotation  is  dated  from  Motito, 
the  station  of  the  French  missionaries,  near  to  which 
Mahura,  the  brother  of  Mothibi,  had  settled  with  a 
part  of  the  Batlaping  tribe,  which  had  formerly  lived 
on  the  Kuruman  river  until  broken  up  by  wars  : 


i86  SMOOTHING  DIFFICULTIES. 

"  MoTiro,  August  13,  1835. 

"  My  dear  Mary, — Though  it  is  now  late  I  must  write 
a  few  lines,  lest  I  be  too  busy  to  write  to-morrow  morning. 
Yesterday  afternoon  I  wrote  to  you  by  two  men,  Batlaro 
returning  to  the  Kuruman  on  horseback.  I  shall  now  give 
you  a  brief  account  of  what  has  transpired  since.  After  a 
very  short  night's  rest,  I  left  this  at  an  early  hour  to  visit 
Mahura,  who  lives  as  far  again  as  Letakong  is  from  Motito. 
As  the  object  of  the  visit  was  of  some  importance,  I  had 
many  cogitations  on  my  way  thither.  He  received  me 
well,  and  I  soon  stated  one  of  the  objects  of  my  visit, 
namely,  to  obtain  Mosilikatse's  oxen.  He  gave  the  reasons 
why  he  had  not  brought  them,  the  chief  of  which  was  that 
he  had  been  falsely  charged  with  having  stolen  them  from 
Mosilikatse.  He  said  this  continued  to  annoy  him  beyond 
anything.  I  pointed  out  the  propriety  as  well  as  the  neces- 
sity of  his  returning  the  cattle,  both  for  his  own  sake  and  for 
that  of  the  country.  I  had  scarcely  finished  my  argument 
when  he  instantly  ordered  a  man  to  proceed  to  the  outpost, 
and  to  have  the  oxen  forthcoming  at  Motito  by  this  evening 
or  to-morrow  morning.     This  was  one  point  gained. 

"  The  next  thing  was  that  I  was  sorry  and  surprised  at 
the  misunderstanding  between  him  and  Dr.  Smith,  and 
that  he  had  not  visited  him  since  his  return  to  Motito. 
He  said  in  reply  to  this,  that  when  the  doctor  was  last  at 
Motito  he  promised  on  his  return  from  the  Kuruman  to 
visit  him  and  see  the  hills,  and  examine  the  different  stones. 
That,  instead  of  fulfilling  his  promise,  he  only  heard  that  he 
would  not  come  because  he  was  very  angry  with  him.  I 
admitted  that  if  the  doctor  promised  he  ought  to  have  sent 
a  reason  for  not  coming,  and  added  that  the  doctor  was 
certainly  much  grieved  with  his  threatenings  to  hinder  the 
party  and  the  interpreter  from  proceeding  on  the  journey. 
He  said  he  would  like  well  if  the  doctor  would  point  out 
any  one  who  had  heard  him  say  such  things.  I  said  some- 
thing more  on  the  propriety  of  his  having  a  good  under- 
standing with  the  doctor.  I  then  asked  him  to  accompany 
me  to  Motito.  He  said  he  would  yield  to  my  request,  and 
immediately  sent  off  for  his  horses,  stating  that  if  they  did 


COUNSELS   OF  PEACE.  187 

not  come  in  time  he  would  follow.     This  was  a  second 
point  gained. 

"  Of  success  in  the  third  object  of  my  visit  I  despaired, 
namely,  his  intended  attack  on  the  Batlaro.  However, 
the  subject  was  introduced,  and  I  stated  to  him  all  that  I 
had  heard  on  the  subject.  He  replied  that  all  was  true. 
That  his  full  determination  was  to  punish  the  Batlaro  for 
their  insolence.  He  had  a  long  string  of  complaints,  to 
which  I  remarked  that  if  these  things  were  true  he  certainly 
had  cause  to  be  offended,  but  no  reason  to  go  to  war.  I 
said  the  Bechwanas  were  a  nation  of  liars,  and  that  any 
beggar  would  bring  him  such  reports  merely  to  get  a  bone 
to  pick  :  that  if  he  went  to  war  on  these  grounds  I  should 
ever  view  him  as  a  fool,  and  incapable  of  government.  I 
proposed  to  him  what  he  ought  to  do,  namely,  to  call  the 
chiefs  of  the  Batlaro  to  account  or  visit  them,  hold  a 
pz'tso,  and  hear  the  sentiments  of  the  principal  men.  I 
said  a  great  deal  to  him  on  the  horrors  of  war.  I  told  him 
to  throw  a  burning  coal  into  the  grass  and  tell  me  when 
the  burning  would  end  :  that  attacking  the  Batlaro  was 
like  attacking  the  Kuruman  station,  which  had  been  the 
means  of  saving  himself  and  the  country.  After  I  had 
done  speaking — for  1  had  spoken  long  and  earnestly  on  the 
subject — he  paused  for  some  time.  He  said  he  was  glad  he 
had  heard  me  on  that  subject,  and  he  would  endeavour  to 
do  what  I  had  recommended.  This  was  the  third  point 
aimed  at.  You  cannot  think  how  grateful  I  felt.  After 
partaking  of  thick  milk  I  left,  and  arrived  here  about  three 
o'clock." 

"  Maoto  A  TsfiPE,J/rtj/ 17, 1835. — Nothing  of  any  interest 
occurred  on  the  road.  Nothing  to  be  seen  but  an  extensive 
plain  covered  with  long  grass,  and  a  few  camel-thorn  trees 
and  bushes.  I  ordered  my  waggon  forward  in  the  long  train 
at  a  distance  from  the  gentlemen,  in  order  that  I  might  be 
alone  and  get  a  nap,  but  I  could  not  get  a  wink  of  sleep. 
However,  I  had  the  more  time  to  read.  The  evening  was 
pleasant,  and  the  whole  camp  seemed  as  cheerful  as  a  hive 
of  bees  in  midsummer.      I  spent  most  of  the  evening  in 


i88       THE   ANTI-SWEARING   COVENANT, 

the  tent  with  the  doctor  and  the  young  gents,  and  also  Mr. 
Kift,  who  is  more  cheerful  company  than  I  had  supposed. 

"  I  proposed  to  the  doctor  that  he,  or  rather  Mr.  Bell  the 
chaplain,  should  read  a  short  sermon  in  English  for  the 
few  who  did  not  understand  Dutch  and  Sechwana.  He 
objected,  stating  that  most  of  them  knew  a  little  Dutch. 
We  had  the  Dutch  in  the  forenoon  and  the  Sechwana  in 
the  afternoon,  and  as  all  attended  I  had  good  congregations 
— and  who  knows  but  that  the  seed  sown  may  yet  grow. 
May  the  Lord  grant  His  blessing.  This  evening  I  found 
that  the  English  do  not  understand  a  Dutch  sermon,  at 
least  but  a  very  few  sentences  ;  and  therefore,  the  Lord  will- 
ing, I  shall  next  Sabbath  have  a  service  for  them  also. 

"  I  continue  to  admire  Dr.  Smith  more  than  ever.  He 
sets  an  excellent  example  to  his  men  and  is  not  only  will- 
ing but  anxious  for  their  instruction  in  the  things  of  God. 
All  the  English,  if  I  except  Dr.  Smith  and  one  or  two 
more,  swear,  and  some  do  it  to  no  ordinary  degree,  but 
they  are  all  cunning  enough  to  take  care  that  I  never  hear 
them.  I  am  glad,  however,  to  be  informed  this  evening  by 
Messrs.  Hume  and  Scoon,  that  they  have  just  written  out 
an  agreement  that  for  every  oath  the  swearer  pays  a  fine  of 
half  a  stick  of  tobacco.  Tennant  is  to  be  the  treasurer.  I 
am  quite  rejoiced  to  hear  this,  and  pray  that  the  plan  may 
succeed ;  and  it  is  very  likely,  as  all  have  put  their  names 
to  it  and  tobacco  is  precious. 

"  The  sentry  walks  for  two  hours,  and  six  are  appointed 
for  each  night.  Dicky  had  the  first  watch  to-night,  from 
eight  to  ten,  and  the  second  watch  has  just  commenced. 
Every  ten  minutes  or  a  quarter  of  an  hour  the  sentry  shouts 
that  all  is  well.  I  hope  it  will  be  the  same  song  till  we 
return. 

"  Now  I  must  return  to  last  night,  and  tell  you  that  when 
I  was  sitting  by  a  roaring  fire,  taking  my  last  puff  for  the  day, 
I  jumped  for  joy  to  hear  them  calling  out  '  Matlolanyane.' 
I  soon  got  hold  of  the  packet  of  letters,  and  instantly 
read  yours,  with  a  heart  full  of  gratitude  to  God  for  His 
continued  favour  toward  you.  I  handed  it  to  the  doctor, 
who  I  am  sure  read  it  with  almost  equal  pleasure." 


MILITARY  VERSUS  MISSIONARY  TACTICS.  189 

"  Maritsane,  Sabbath,  May  24th. — Have  had  a  quiet  and 
peaceable  Sabbath.  The  forenoon  service  was  in  Dutch. 
After  dinner  I  read  to  the  English  a  sermon  on  the  im- 
portance of  Divine  knowledge.  In  the  evening  I  addressed 
the  Bechwana.  It  may  be  that  what  was  said  about  eternal 
things  may  prove  like  bread  cast  upon  the  waters.  Many 
have  left  the  land  of  light  on  which  the  Sun  of  righteous- 
ness shone  with  almost  meridian  splendour,  and  have  found 
a  Saviour  in  a  land  of  pagan  darkness  where  but  a  iew 
glimmering  rays  were  darting  on  the  gloom.  The  day  has 
been  very  serene,  but  the  night  is  cold. 

"  I  think  I  mentioned  in  my  last  that  the  English 
swearers  had  unanimously  agreed  to  pay  a  half-stick  of 
tobacco  for  every  oath.  It  was  on  a  Sabbath,  and  when 
the  characters  are  considered  one  will  forgive  such  a  con- 
tract on  such  a  day.  Next  day's  produce  was  seventeen 
and  a  half  sticks,  equal  to  thirty-five  oaths.  The  most 
notorious  lost  only  one  and  a  half  stick.  The  number  of 
fines  decreased  so  rapidly  that  the  treasurer  is  out  of  em- 
ploy, except  keeping  what  he  has  got.  I  comfort  them  by 
saying  that  they  will  have  all  the  fewer  oaths  to  account 
for  in  the  day  of  judgment." 

"  MOLOPO,  Friday,  May  29///. — We  have  been  here  all  day. 
Have  been  employed  most  of  the  time  translating.  The 
wind  being  cold  I  had  frequent  interruptions.  No  messengers 
have  yet  arrived  from  Mosilikatse.  In  the  afternoon  the 
doctor  seemed  a  little  anxious,  and  of  course  conjectures 
followed.  Towards  evening  the  waggons  were  removed  from 
the  form  of  a  crescent  to  that  of  a  waggon  fortification,  with 
all  the  oxen  on  one  side  enclosed  with  a  fence.  When  the 
plan  was  proposed  I  gave  my  plain  unvarnished  refusal. 
Hume  and  Scoon  were  also  much  opposed,  particularly  on 
account  of  the  oxen,  which  were  comparatively  exposed  to 
the  lion,  as  the  fence  would  prove  a  mere  shadow  if  they 
were  once  frightened  by  him.  The  excuse  the  doctor  made 
to  Monaheng  was  that  he  feared  for  the  men's  lives,  and  he 
stated  at  the  same  time  to  me  that  he  was  bound  down  to 
take  every  precaution  for  the  safety  of  his  people.  Of 
course  we  submitted,  but  not  cheerfully. 


190      MESSENGERS  FROM  MOSILIKATSE. 

"  As  soon  as  it  became  dark  the  lions  began  to  drive  the 
dogs  back  to  the  fence,  and  had  nearly  frightened  the  oxen 
out  of  their  enclosure.  Port  fires  and  blue  lights  were 
burned,  and  a  party  went  out  with  guns  enough  to  blow 
him  to  piec'es  ;  but  '  Tau  '  knew  how  to  take  care  of  him- 
self, and  of  course  eluded  the  short-lived  moonshine.  The 
oxen  arc  still  very  restless.  The  bell  is  constantly  ringing, 
and  I  fear  the  night's  serenading  will  not  be  conducive  to 
sleep. 

"  Saturday,  May  30///. — Most  of  those  who  had  cares 
slept  very  little  and  uncomfortably,  anxious  about  the  oxen. 
However,  through  the  goodness  and  mercy  of  our  God,  no 
evil  was  suffered  to  befall  us.  The  forepart  of  the  day 
was  excessively  cold,  with  flying  clouds  and  a  strong  wind 
from  the  S.E.  Monahcng  told  me  early  that  as  the  doctor 
was  afraid  of  proceeding  he  should  go  forward.  I  replied, 
'  Good,  and  I  shall  go  with  you.'  I  accordingly  stated  the 
circumstance  to  the  doctor.  He  objected  to  my  going. 
I  then  said, '  Some  one  else  must  go  ; '  and  in  ten  minutes 
Andries,  Baba,  and  Boy,  with  Monaheng,  the  latter  in 
regimental  coat,  started  off  on  horseback.  They  had 
scarcely  gone  half  way  before  they  met  five  Matebele 
coming  post-haste  to  meet  us.  The  horsemen  returned, 
and  the  rest  followed  and  came  here  in  the  afternoon.  The 
Induna  is  an  old  acquaintance  of  mine,  and  seemed  not  a 
little  pleased  to  get  hold  of  my  fist  again.  We  learned 
the  following  particulars.  Mosilikatse  was  living  beyond 
the  Marikwa  River,  and  many  of  the  people  had  been 
carried  off  by  a  sickness  hitherto  unknown  to  them." 

*'  MOSEGA,  June  2. — We  arrived  here  early  in  the  evening. 
The  variety  of  country,  the  first  part  undulating,  with  a  bold 
range  of  hills  or  mountains  before  us  adorned  with  wood, 
especially  the  glens,  the  valleys  showing  signs  of  an  abundant 
harvest,  rendered  the  short  stage  very  delightful  compared  to 
the  country  through  which  we  had  been  passing  before,  and 
especially  with  so  many  fine  streams  running  rapidly  along 
the  fertile  vales.  I  walked  the  latter  part  of  the  stage,  and 
when  we  came  to  the  first  village  the  doctor  joined  me. 
We  passed  four  considerable  villages.     As  you  may  con- 


MOFFATS  CONFIDENCE  IN  THE  NATIVES.  191 

ceive,  twelve  waggons  excited  considerable  interest  ;  but  I 
am  sure  you  would  have  laughed  as  heartily  as  we  did  to 
see  how  much  they  were  astonished  at  my  long  beard. 
Many  a  ram-race  was  taken  to  obtain  a  front  view.  I  am 
sure  no  wild  beast  in  Exeter  Exchange  could  have  excited 
more  wonder. 

"  After  halting,  the  doctor  proposed  to  make  a  kraal  for 
the  oxen.  This  I  did  not  approve  of,  as  there  was  a  com- 
paratively empty  kraal  capable  of  holding  two  thousand 
cattle  quite  contiguous,  and  the  Matebele  would  most 
cheerfully  give  them  lodging  for  a  few  nights  ;  that  for  my 
own  part  I  should  send  my  oxen  thither,  and  that  Mr. 
Hume  I  believed  would  do  the  same.  After  a  good  deal 
of  persuasion,  he  at  length  agreed. 

"  The  doctor's  waggons  are  again  placed  in  the  form  of 
a  square,  the  entrance  of  his  own  facing  the  centre,  into 
which  I  could  not  go  without  climbing  over  the  wheels  or 
going  under  the  waggon.  A  little  before  sunset  the  doctor 
again  called  me  aside,  and  said  that  sending  the  oxen  to 
the  kraal  referred  to  was  placing  ourselves  too  much  in  the 
power  of  the  natives,  and  that  he  was  not  inclined  to  risk 
it.  I  argued  that  it  was  in  the  power  of  the  natives  to  take 
our  oxen  almost  all  the  hours  of  the  day,  it  being  impos- 
sible for  them  to  find  grass  within  sight  of  the  waggons,, 
and  that  giving  over  our  cattle  to  their  care  and  placing 
almost  unbounded  confidence  in  their  friendship  would  of 
itself  disarm  them  of  any  evil  intentions  ;  but  I  did  not 
believe  that  they  had  any  such  intentions.  No  one  had 
seen  the  slightest  mark  of  it.  I  never  once  contemplated 
danger  from  that  quarter,  or  I  should  not  have  come  myself 
or  have  recommended  others.  With  many  more  remarks 
of  a  similar  kind,  the  doctor  was  persuaded  to  let  his  oxen 
go  with  mine.  He  has  a  greater  charge  than  any  one  of  us, 
and  is  of  course  under  a  greater  responsibility.  He  is  indefa- 
tigable in  research,  and  will  do  great  things  and  throw  light 
on  those  parts  of  the  country  over  which  he  travels  ;  but 
all  men  do  not  see  alike." 

"JiPie  5///. — Kalepe  having  returned  this  morning,  told  us 
it  was  Mosilikatse's  wish  that  we  should  go  to  his  present 


192         AT  THE  MERCY  OF  THE  CHIEF. 

esidence  beyond  the  Marikwa  River.  This  message  was 
perfectly  agreeable  to  our  wishes,  and  set  all  in  motion  ; 
but  we  halted  at  the  mouth  of  the  kloof,  about  three 
hours  and  a  half  from  Mosega,  fearing  to  go  farther 
into  the  thicket  on  account  of  lions.  Fine  grass  and  abun- 
dance of  water,  the  Mainelwe  River  carrying  off  all  the 
drainage  of  the  half  a  dozen  streams  which  take  their  rise 
to  the  west,  of  which  Mamuri  and  Marimane  are  the  most 
distant.  There  are  also  sea-cows  in  the  river  a  little  farther 
down." 

"  Monday,  June  Zth. — In  the  evening  Kalepe  told  me  that 
he  was  going  forward  early  to-morrow  morning,  and  I  must 
follow.  Monaheng  again  came  into  the  tent,  and  said  it  was 
the  wish  of  Mosilikatse  that  I  should  precede  the  waggons 
on  horseback.  I  objected,  preferring  to  ride  in  my  waggon. 
We  conferred  some  time,  and  then  I  told  him  I  should  likely 
go,  and  that  he  must  be  ready  to  accompany  me.  I  told 
the  doctor  what  had  passed.  He,  as  I  expected,  opposed 
my  leaving  the  waggons.  I  stated  that  my  chief  reason 
for  acceding  to  Mosilikatse's  wish  was  to  show  him  that  I 
was  entirely  what  I  was  before  —  that  is,  void  of  fear. 
Should  I  not  go,  he  might  think  I  could  not  trust  him 
now  as  I  once  did,  and  of  course  our  friendship  would 
be  broken,  and  the  whole  party  would  as  a  consequence 
suffer  more  or  less.  To  suspect  danger  appeared  to  me 
like  a  childish  mania,  and  to  act  towards  such  a  tyrant 
according  to  the  doctor's  system  would  certainly  create 
suspicion. 

"  I  also  argued  that  if  Mosilikatse  seriously  intended  to 
do  us  harm,  he  would  have  numerous  opportunities  when 
he  could  destroy  the  whole  party.  A  soldier,  of  course, 
will  not  admit  this,  however  clear  it  may  be  to  others.  As 
I  had  engaged  to  take  the  party  to  Mosilikatse  with  a  pro- 
mise of  his  attention  and  friendship,  the  inference  was  clear 
that  I  must  be  allowed  to  take  my  own  way  in  obtaining 
the  same.  I  left  the  doctor  silenced,  but  not  convinced  ; 
for  after  I  left  the  tent  he  resumed  the  subject  with  Scoon, 
but  he  said  he  wished  with  all  his  heart  for  me  to  go 
forward.     Mr.  Hume  was  of  the  same  mind. 


SECOND  RECEPTION  BY  MOSILIKATSE,     193 

"ToLANE  River,  Ttiesday,  gth. — The  Indunas,  Kalepe, 
&c.,  left  for  Mosilikatse  before  sunrise.  I,  with  Moiiaheng, 
Andries,  and  Younker,  left  on  horseback  just  when  the 
wa<:^gons  were  starting,  and  reached  this  place  in  about 
three  hours. 

"  Mosilikatse  was  bathing  in  the  river,  but  he  soon 
marched  up  with  a  kind  of  bodyguard  singing.  The  moment 
he  entered  the  kraal  lie  stretched  out  his  hand,  hastened  up 
to  me  and  seized  me  by  mine.  He  did  not  speak,  but  gazed 
on  me  for  a  time  as  if  I  had  dropped  from  the  clouds. 

"  At  length  he  repeated  my  name  two  or  three  times,  and 
said,  '  Now  my  eyes  see  you,  my  heart  is  white  as  milk.' 
This  he  repeated  again  and  again,  laying  hold  of  my  hand 
and  stroking  my  beard.  He  called  me  to  the  side  of  the 
kraal,  where  we  sat  down,  and  the  warriors  began  their 
songs.  He  seemed  as  if  he  could  not  help  laying  his  hand 
first  on  one  of  my  shoulders  and  then  on  the  other,  and 
sometimes  taking  a  lock  of  my  beard  in  his  hand.  During 
the  intervals  in  the  singing  I  conversed  with  him  about  the 
objects  of  my  journey,  and  about  those  who  had  accom- 
panied me. 

"  We  sat  together  till  the  waggons  came,  when  I  went  to 
point  out  a  place  for  the  encampment.  I  returned  with  the 
doctor  and  four  others  to  introduce  them  to  the  chief." 

In  the  course  of  a  few  days  it  was  arranged  that  Dr. 
Smith,  with  the  major  part  of  the  expedition,  should 
go  on  to  the  north-east  and  return.  The  traders, 
Messrs.  Hume  and  Scoon,  also  left  on  a  hunting 
expedition  to  the  northward  ;  so  that  Robert  Moffat 
was  left  comparatively  alone  at  headquarters.  It 
would  be  impossible  to  give  anything  more  than  a 
mere  index  of  the  copious  journal  which  it  was  his 
solace  to  write  during  the  two  months  thus  spent, 
for  the  benefit  of  the  wife  who  was  watching-  for  news 
at  Kuruman.  The  extracts  which  have  already  been 
given  bear  largely  upon  one  point.     The  principle 

14 


194    PEACEFUL  STAY  OF  THE  EXPEDITION. 

upon  which  his  whole  life  among  natives  was  based 
was  that  of  implicit  mutual  confidence.  It  was  the 
secret  of  much  of  his  success.  It  was  of  course  a 
little  difficult  to  inspire  the  leader  of  an  expedition 
which  had  a  strong  military  ingredient  with  a  similar 
confidence.  In  time,  however,  the  good  doctor  threw 
off  his  strategical  shell,  and  became  as  contented 
and  as  safe  among  the  Matebele  as  could  be  desired, 
and  got  rid  of  the  strange  and  unaccountable  delu- 
sion which  possesses  the  minds  of  so  many  other- 
wise rational  white  men — that  their  black  neighbours 
are,  as  a  matter  of  course,  ever  on  the  watch  for  an 
opportunity  to  cut  their  throats. 

The  expedition  was  accorded  full  liberty  to  come 
and  to  go  in  any  part  of  the  wide  extent  of  country 
then  under  the  rule  of  Mosilikatse  ;  and  it  speaks  well 
for  its  conduct  and  discipline  that,  during  the  long 
stay  of  this  party  of  between  twenty  and  thirty 
white  men  of  very  different  grades  in  life,  not  a 
single  serious  misunderstanding  or  act  of  injury 
seems  to  have  occurred. 

By  the  removal  of  Dr.  Smith  to  the  scene  of  his 
researches  in  what  is  now  the  Transvaal,  near  Rus- 
tenburg  and  Pretoria,  Moffat  was  left  free  to  attend 
to  other  objects  which  he  had  in  view  in  visiting  the 
chief  of  the  Matebele.  First  and  foremost  was^t 
his  work  to  try,  as  on  his  former  visit,  to  instil  into 
the  dark  mind  of  the  savage  despot  at  least  some 
gleams  of  religious  truth — a  work  of  great  difficulty 
in  the  case  of  one  who  lived  as  he  did,  the  object  of 
almost  idolatrous  adoration  on  the  part  of  all  who 
•came  near  him.  Little  could  be  done  in  this  way, 
'but  a  p?th  was  opened  and  made  easy  for  the  advent 


TRIES  TO  GAIN  VARIOUS  OBJECTS.       195 

of  the  American  missionaries  who  it  was  hoped 
would  come. 

Another  object  was  to  find  in  the  country  timber 
such  as  would  be  suitable  for  the  roof  of  the  Kuru- 
man  church.  In  this  Moffat  was  entirely  successful, 
and  that  roof  still  stands  a  monument  of  the  united 
work  of  Hamilton,  Moffat,  and  Edwards  —  an 
achievement,  in  those  days  and  with  such  means  as 
they  possessed,  of  no  ordinary  character. 

An  endeavour  was  also  made  to  procure  from 
Mosilikatse  the  return  of  two  Griqua  children  who 
had  been  captured  on  the  outskirts  of  his  country 
from  a  hunting  party.  He  had  been  much  harassed 
by  the  depredations  of  Griqua  and  Koranna  marau- 
ders, and  he  could  not  be  prevailed  upon  to  give  up 
the  captives  until  he  should  have  some  guarantee 
that  he  should  in  future  be  exempted  from  such 
attacks  ;  and  on  the  same  ground  he  refused  to 
return  two  waggons  belonging  to  an  English  gentle- 
man of  the  name  of  Bain,  who  had,  unfortunately  for 
himself,  been  mistaken  for  one  of  these  marauders. 

"  KURUMAN,  y?<««  25//%. 

"  My  dear  Robert, — Another  day  is  far  advanced,  and 
we  hear  nothing  of  you.  Shampan  arrived  this  morning, 
and  knows  nothing.  Once  more  I  begin  to  feel  that  '  hope 
deferred  maketh  the  heart  sick.'  The  brethren  advise  me 
to  wait  till  Monday,  and  then  to  send  to  you. 

"  You  will  doubtless  be  anxious  to  hear  something  about 
the  Americans,  but  we  cannot  tell  you  much,  and  shall 
send  you  all  the  correspondence  respecting  them.  Late  in 
the  last  month  Moses  and  his  wife  were  on  a  visit,  and 
brought  us  intelligence  of  their  being  at  Griqua  Town,  and 
a  letter  from  Mr.  Lindley,  which  I  showed  to  our  brethren 
and  we  were  all  of  opinion  that  they  could  not  do  better 


196    IMPROVED  DISPOSITION  OF  BATL APING. 

than  to  send  one  of  their  number  to  visit  the  Matebele 
while  you  were  there  ;  and  a  letter  was  immediately  de- 
spatched giving  them  such  advice,  and  offering  them  oxen 
to  take  them  on.  They  did  not,  however,  fall  in  with  the 
plan,  as  you  will  see  from  their  reply,  and  of  course  we 
could  do  no  more. 

"As  far  as  we  can  gather  from  all  sources,  it  is  their 
intention  to  stop  here  some  time  in  order  to  become 
familiar  with  the  language. 

"  I  must  now  give  some  account  of  this  place  and 
neighbourhood.  All  is  well  as  far  as  I  know  outwardly, 
but  there  has  been  a  necessity  for  church  discipline.  The 
congregations  are  exceedingly  large  ever  since  you  went, 
and  the  brethren  never  so  much  encouraged  with  appear- 
ances among  the  Batlaro.  The  numbers  who  attend  are 
great,  and  there  is  considerable  emotion  among  them  such 
as  was  never  before  observed.  We  have  also  good  news 
from  Mothibi's  place.  Our  people  on  their  late  visit  found 
them  in  a  good  frame  of  mind.  They  appear  to  be  in 
earnest  about  coming  to  the  Kuruman.  Mothibi  wishes 
you  to  send  him  a  waggon  to  help  him  to  come.  Our 
people  held  service  with  them  on  the  Sabbath,  and  many 
were  much  affected. 

"  Mahatlane  had  much  conversation  with  them,  and 
appears  to  have  made  very  sensible  remarks  to  them ;  and 
he  represents  them  as  quite  broken  in  spirit,  and  as  regard- 
ing themselves  as  dogs  before  those  who  have  embraced 
the  gospel.  Mothibi  says  he  now  sees  that  he  has  had 
great  privileges  and  has  despised  them,  that  the  gospel  is 
now  going  past  them  to  the  interior  tribes,  and  that  he  is 
living  in  deep  darkness.  So  you  will  see  our  hopes  are 
reviving  about  the  Batlaping. 

"  My  dear  Robert,  thus  far  T  wrote  on  Thursday  evening, 
fondly  hoping  to  hear  something  of  you  before  this,  but 
still  all  is  darkness,  and  this  is  Sabbath  evening.  Some 
Bahurutse  from  Taung  arrived  yesterday,  and  tell  a  story 
which  must  be  old.  They  say  that  a  youth  of  theirs  made 
his  escape  from  the  Matebele,  and  tells  that  the  waggons 
had  all  arrived  at  the  Molopo,  and  that  you  had  sent  mes- 


SOURCES  OF  CONSOLATION,  197 

sengers  forward  to  apprise  Mosilikatse  of  your  approach ; 
that  when  he  heard  this  he  had  packed  up  and  fled  further, 
apprehending  danger.  This  is  all  we  can  hear,  except  one 
other  report  which  said  you  had  left  the  waggons  at  Mosega, 
and  were  gone  on  alone. 

"  I  have  now  come  to  the  conclusion  to  send  Melomo 
and  another  with  the  little  news  we  have,  that  you  may  be 
no  longer  kept  in  suspense,  whatever  we  are.  I  continue 
to  hope  for  the  best,  though  I  feel  very  impatient  to  hear 
in  what  circumstances  you  have  been  placed.  I-am  aware 
that  your  situation  is  a  critical  one,  and  one  of  considerable 
responsibility,  and  therefore  I  was  the  more  anxious  that 
one  of  the  Americans  should  have  gone  to  you.  I  have 
felt  much  for  you  and  sympathized  with  you,  and  trust  that 
the  Mighty  Counsellor  has  been  with  you  to  direct  as  well 
as  to  protect  you  and  those  who  are  with  you. 

"  For  my  own  part  I  do  not  experience  less  support  on 
this  occasion  than  on  former  ones,  believing  that  He  who 
has  hitherto  been  so  gracious  to  us  will  yet  be  so,  notwith- 
standing our  unfaithfulness  to  Him.  I  again  assert  that  I 
never  trusted  God  in  vain,  but  have  often  suffered  loss  by 
my  distrust  and  unbelief.  I  do,  however,  feel  it  necessary 
to  prepare  my  heart  for  further  trials,  as  I  have  always 
done  under  our  separations,  anticipating  at  times  the  most 
painful  occurrences,  and  have  frequently  found  that  such 
anticipations  are  a  means  of  deepening  a  sense  of  the 
Divine  goodness  when  we  were  again  permitted  to  meet. 

"  I  have  this  day  considered  the  Ninety-first  Psalm,  and 
have  read  Scott  and  Clarke  on  it,  and  am  much  comforted 
by  it." 

In  the  course  of  the  month  of  August  Moffat 
returned  to  Kuruman,  to  be  followed  shortly  after 
by  the  expedition.  All  the  available  waggons  and 
oxen  which  could  be  mustered  on  the  station  started 
under  the  care  of  Hamilton  and  Edwards,  to  obtain 
the  timber  of  the  existence  of  which  Moffat  had 
satisfied  himself      It  was  a  great  undertaking.     The 


igS  WOODCUTTING  EXPEDITION. 

woodcutters  had  to  travel  to  a  distance  of  two 
hundred  and  fifty  miles  ;  but  they  were  not  men  to 
be  deterred  by  difficulties,  and  they  enjoyed  a  great 
advantage  in  the  cordial  approval  of  the  chief,  and 
in  such  assistance  as  his  people  were  capable  of 
giving. 


CHAPTER   XXI. 

MOFFAT  ITINERATES,  AND  HIS   WIFE   GOES   TO 
THE    COAST. 


M 


1836. 


OFFAT  had  not  long  been  home  when  he. 
and  his  wife  were  again  called  to  separate 
for  a  time.  Her  health,  which  a  few 
months  before  had  been  severely  tried,  had  not  been 
re-established,  and  it  was  the  advice  of  Dr.  Andrew 
Smith  that  she  should  pay  a  visit  to  the  coast.  This 
was  also  needed  on  account  of  the  children  who 
were  at  school.  Rather  than  take  her  husband 
away  from  his  post  she  determined  again  to  go 
without  him,  he  accompanying  her  as  far  as  the 
Vaal  River,  about  a  hundred  miles  distant.  Mr. 
Hume,  the  trader,  being  on  his  way  to  Grahamstown, 
she  was  able  to  avail  herself  of  his  escort,  which,  as 
it  proved  afterwards,  was  of  great  service  to  her. 

Havinof  seen  his  wife  over  the  Vaal  River,  Moffit 
started  on  his  return  to  Kuruman  on  horseback,  but 
made  a  detour  to  visit  the  old  chief  of  the  Batlaping, 
Mothibi,  who  had  settled  down  at  a  spot  about  forty 
miles  higher  up  the  river  with  a  portion  of  the  tribe. 


200    MOFFA  T  PA  R  TS  WI TH  HIS  FA  MIL  Y  AGAIN. 

The  people  seem  at  this  time  to  have  been  much  re- 
duced in  circumstances,  with  scarcely  food  to  eat  on 
account  of  their  extreme  poverty,  not  having  re- 
covered from  the  long  period  of  war  during  which 
they  had  deserted  the  Kuruman,  This,  however, 
would  not  account  for  their  want  of  hospitality. 
The  Batlaping  had  always  a  character  for  meanness 
among  Bechwana  tribes,  for  the  Bechwana  generally 
give  what  they  have  without  grudging  to  strangers. 
Where  there  was  work  to  be  done  for  his  Master  it 
made  no  difference  to  Robert  Moffat  whether  he 
was  well  cared  for  or  not,  as  the  following  letter 
will  show  : 

"Kuruman,  Thursday,  Dec.  2,  1835. 

"  My  dear  Mary, — It  is  with  gratitude  that  I  sit  down 
to  record  to  you  the  goodness  of  our  Heavenly  Father  in 
bringing  me  back  to  this  place  in  health  and  safety.  I 
arrived  here  about  ten  o'clock  last  night  with  Mosheu. 
We  looked  like  half-drowned  beings,  having  been  exposed 
to  the  vehemence  of  a  thunderstorm  which  lasted  from  Bok 
Fontcin  to  near  this  place.  The  night  was  awfully  grand, 
and  the  rain  was  heavy  on  us  for  more  than  two  hours. 
Though  I  suffered  a  few  hardships  in  my  journey  I  am 
nevertheless  happy  indeed  that  I  went,  and  as  a  i&\^  of  the 
particulars  may  prove  interesting  I  shall  begin  where  I  left 
you.  I  did  not  part  with  you  in  that  comparatively  easy 
frame  of  mind  in  which  I  left  you  for  the  former  journey. 
Poor  Jimmy  and  Johnny  were  entirely  unconscious  of  the 
pain  we  felt.  On  reaching  the  opposite  bank  of  the  river 
I  felt  somewhat  relieved.  I  galloped  nearly  all  the  way  to 
Campbell,  so  that  I  reached  Mr.  B.'s  house  with  good  day- 
light. Many  a  look  I  gave  to  your  waggons,  at  least  to 
the  dust  they  occasioned,  which  I  still  saw  when  I  had 
arrived  opposite  Abram's  house.  I  felt  that  evening  no 
inclination  to  think  or  speak. 

"  Next  day,  the  27th,  through  the  kindness  of  Cornelius, 
I  proceeded  with  three  horses  and    a   guide  to  Mothibi. 


PREACHING  BY  DIM  MOONLIGHT.        201 

The  day  was  hot  and  the  journey  long-,  upwards  of  forty 
miles.  I  reached  the  place  a  little  before  sunset.  I  had  no 
sooner  alighted  in  the  public  yard  than  the  people  flocked 
to  see  me,  as  if  I  had  dropped  from  the  clouds.  Mahuto 
seemed  greatly  delighted.  (Mothibi  was  absent  at  Taung 
with  Mahura.)  Though  she  has  suffered  and  is  not  strong-, 
she  has  still  the  same  appearance  she  had  when  you  last 
saw  her ;  indeed  her  countenance  seemed  to  me  more 
intelligent  and  interesting,  and  especially  her  conversation. 
Many  were  her  inquiries  about  you  and  the  children.  Thus 
it  continued  till  moonlight,  when  she  brought  a  little  thick 
milk.  She  then  with  many  others  begged  me  to  tell  them 
about  God  and  their  souls.  'We  are  great  sinners,  we  are 
ignorant,'  were  the  words  which  fell  from  the  lips  of  many 
alternately.  Mahuto  ordered  the  congregation  to  assemble. 
I  addressed  them  from  '  How  shall  ye  escape,  &c.'  All 
were  attentive  ;  every  eye  seemed  to  continue  fixed  on  me. 
The  night  was  a  little  cloudy,  and  the  pale  moonlight 
falling  on  my  swarthy  audience,  which  was  all  silence, 
rendered  the  scene  impressive  and  solemn.  I  think  I 
continued  speaking  for  nearly  an  hour.  After  they  had 
dispersed,  several  spoke  to  me  about  their  souls.  It  was 
with  difficulty  I  could  reach  the  loloapa,  about  twenty 
yards  distant,  where  I  was  to  sleep.  One  robust  young 
fellow  interrupted  me,  and  repeated  with  clearness  passages 
he  had  heard  read  in  the  Gospel  of  Luke,  which  had  been 
blessed  in  turning  his  attention  to  the  concerns  of  his  soul. 
'  Believe  me,'  he  said,  grasping  my  hand, 'I  prayed  earnestly 
to  God  this  very  morning  that  He  might  send  some  one 
to  teach  my  soul ;  and  God  has  heard  my  prayer.'  On 
entering  the  loloapa  I  laid  me  down  on  a  mat,  as  you 
may  conceive  much  tired.  Mahuto  sat  a  long  time,  and 
talked  freely  on  a  variety  of  subjects,  and  assured  me  that- 
if  she  had  her  will  in  the  government  of  the  people  they 
would  soon  be  back  at  the  Kuruman.  I  told  her  you  would 
weep  tears  of  joy  to  see  what  I  had  seen.  I  fell  asleep  at 
a  late  hour  on  a  hard  and  stony  bed — which  tome,  however, 
was  as  if  it  were  a  mattress. 

"  Long  before  sunrise  I  was  awoke  by  Mahuto  inquiring 


202         WORK  ON  AN  EMPTY  STOMACH, 

when  I  should  teach.  She  wished  me  to  begin  then  and  there. 
I  begged  for  time  to  think  a  little,  I  then  had  an  earnest  and 
attentive  congregation  of  three  or  four  hundred.  I  felt  great 
liberty  and  great  delight  in  dispensing  the  word  of  eternal 
life.  I  often  thought  how  your  soul  would  be  rejoiced 
to  have  looked  on  these  countenances,  on  which  you  have 
so  often  seen  the  vacant  stare  or  scornful  sneer,  turned  into 
the  most  devout  attention  to  the  great  truths  of  Christianity. 
I  reasoned  long  with  them,  and  after  the  service  I  felt  the 
cravings  of  an  empty  stomach,  but  found  on  inquiry  there 
was  no  food.  The  outposts  were  at  a  distance  from  which 
milk  was  expected.  I  then  went  down  to  the  Vaal  River 
from  the  top  of  a  high  stony  hill  on  which  the  town  stands, 
I  think  about  four  miles  distant.  I  filled  my  stomach  with 
water,  washed,  and  by  the  time  I  had  crossed  the  sandy 
plain  and  reached  the  summit  of  the  hill  I  was  as  thirsty  as 
ever.  On  my  return  I  was  assailed  by  many  of  the  youths 
to  teach  them  to  read,  and  repeat  hymns.  Thus  I  continued 
till  noon,  when  I  was  again  called  upon  to  preach.  The 
people  collected  in  the  largest  Bechwana  house  I  ever  saw. 
Many  sat  outside.  I  preached  till  I  was  nearly  exhausted, 
and  made  very  solemn  appeals  to  the  consciences  of  the 
aged,  they  being  the  only  opposers  to  the  people  removing 
to  a  missionary  station.  Many  applications  were  made  for 
a  missionary,  but  of  this  I  could  not  hold  out  the  shadow 
of  a  hope;  yea,  I  assured  them  that  the  thing  was  impossible 
in  their  present  situation.  Finding  that  I  could  not  obtain 
any  food,  I  resolved  in  the  evening  to  leave  and  visit 
Simeno's  Town,  about  eighteen  miles  lower  down  on  the 
river.  They  begged  and  entreated  me  to  remain,  but  I 
could  not  both  for  myself  and  horses,  for  I  never  saw  one 
blade  of  grass. 

"  I  reached  Simeno's  about  sunset.  Many  were  the 
salutations.  Instant  application  was  made  for  me  to  preach, 
I  said, '  I  am  killed  with  hunger.'  Simeno  replied  that  he 
was  wont  to  have  always  something  to  give,  but  he  was 
ashamed  to  say  that  at  present  he  had  nothing.  Motlanka 
now  looking  very  old,  rose  and  brought  me  a  goats, 
shoulder-blade  with  a  morsel  of  flesh.      I  shared  it  with 


CAUGHT  IN  A   THUNDERSTORM.  203 

my  guide.  The  people  were  instantly  assembled,  more 
numerous  than  at  Mothibi's;  and  although  I  could  not  from 
the  darkness  see  my  audience  distinctly,  I  could  perceive 
that  they  listened  to  me  for  at  least  an  hour  with  the 
greatest  attention.  The  night  was  dark  and  stormy. 
Simeno  and  others  talked  with  me  a  long  time  about 
having  a  missionary.  I  gave  the  same  reply  as  at  Mothibi's. 
I  laid  me  down  wearied  and  hungry,  amidst  dust  and  dirt 
and  vermin,  and  slept  soundly.  Next  morning  application 
was  made  for  me  to  preach  again,  but  this  I  refused  on  the 
score  of  want  of  food.  I  was  asked  to  stop,  and  an  ox  was 
killed,  of  which  I  was  promised  a  steak  ;  but  having  thirty 
or  more  miles  to  ride  to  Campbell,  and  the  horses  having 
nothing  to  eat,  I  took  leave,  and  reached  Campbell  in  the 
afternoon,  right  glad  to  eat  a  hearty  meal,  for  1  had  fasted 
nearly  two  days. 

"  Next  day  I  started  for  Daniel's  Kail,  about  fifty  miles. 
At  the  pan  one  horse  gave  up,  for  the  day  had  been 
terribly  hot.  I  left  the  man  with  the  horse  to  come  on 
slowly,  while  I  went  on  if  possible  to  reach  the  place  before 
the  frightful  storm  which  was  approaching  from  the  north 
should  intercept  me.  My  horse  also  gave  in,  which  obliged 
me  to  walk.  When  within  five  miles  of  the  place,  on  a 
plain  without  a  single  bush,  the  lightning  struck  close  to 
me,  and  the  rain  and  hail  instantly  fell  in  torrents.  The 
knocked-up  horse  turned  his  tail  to  the  storm,  and  I  had 
no  alternative  but  to  imitate  him,  and  I  sat  me  down  in 
the  middle  of  the  road  with  my  head  on  my  knees.  In  five 
minutes  I  was  drenched  to  the  skin,  and  from  a  state  of 
perspiration  and  excessive  thirst  I  was,  as  it  were,  instantly 
launched  into  an  ice-cold  bath  ;  but  still  my  thirst  continued. 
I  at  length  proceeded,  it  still  raining  till  I  reached  Mosheu's 
house — a  wretched  temporary  place,  as  you  know,  but  to  me 
it  was  a  palace.  Having  no  other  clothes,  and  there  being 
many  other  persons  in  the  house,  I  had  no  alternative  but 
to  throw  off  my  jacket  and  waistcoat,  and  try  and  dry 
myself  with  the  rest  on  by  the  fire.  A  cup  of  tea  did  me 
good,  and  I  lay  down  with  my  underclothes  like  a  dish-clout. 
I    awoke  fresh  in  the  morning.      The   weather   was   still 


204  NEWS  FROM  THE  WIFE. 

unsettled,  and  I  did  not  leave  before  ten  or  eleven  o'clock — 
to  finish  the  last  fifty-five  miles.  We  reached  Konung, 
when  a  heavy  thunderstorm  came  on,  which  detained  us 
nearly  three  hours  ;  but ,  the  worst  was  in  the  evening 
approaching  home,  as  stated  in  the  beginning  of  the  letter. 
I  am,  however,  happy  to  say  that,  through  the  mercy  of  our 
God,  I  feel  none  the  worse,  which  to  myself  seems  wonderful, 
considering  the  transitions  through  which  I  have  gone.  I 
am  quite  well,  not  even  a  cold.  Though  the  house  seemed 
a  little  doleful,  it  was  delightful  to  get  under  a  roof  and  get 
on  dry  clothes.  Had  I  the  journey  to  undertake  again,  I 
should  do  it  with  double  cheerfulness. 

"  By  the  time  I  got  some  tea  and  had  told  my  tale  to 
Brother  Hamilton,  who  was  right  glad  to  see  me,  it  was 
late.  Mr.  Edwards  also  came  over  to  greet.  Stiff  and 
tired  I  laid  me  down  on  my  lonely  bed,  but  from  the  tea 
or  the  association  of  ideas  I  could  not  sleep." 

"  Deceinber  lyd. 

"  Two  days  have  been  taken  up  preparing  another  sheet 
of  the  selection  for  the  press ;  and  to-day  it  has  been 
printed  off,  so  that  I  again  take  up  my  pen  half-tired  and 
sleepy,  for  I  was  in  the  office  by  5  a.m.  I  must  first  tell 
you  that  your  letter  from  the  salt-pan  came  to  hand,  and 
it  was  not  only  one  drop  of  comfort  but  a  thousand,  for 
I  really  felt  anxious  to  hear  something  about  you  and  our 
dear  children.  You  cannot  think  how  much  the  particu- 
lars of  your  letter  rejoiced  my  heart.  Your  welfare,  and 
your  meeting  with  our  trusty  friend  the  doctor,  made  me 
weep  tears  of  gratitude  to  the  Father  of  all  our  mercies. 
Blessed  be  His  name  !  But  now  I  have  another  anxiety. 
You  said  the  Orange  River  was  full ;  and  David  Bergover 
has  just  been  here,  and  he  says  that  you,  the  expedition, 
Hume  and  the  Boers,  are  still  on  this  side  of  the  river. 
Though  I  make  allowance  for  David's  tales,  I  cannot  help 
fearing  that  it  may  be  in  some  measure  the  case,  which 
must  prove  very  trying  to  you.  'I  wish  I  could  fly'  often 
fell  from  my  lips.  I  will  hope  the  best,  and  continue  to 
believe  that  the  Lord  will  keep  you  and  bless  you.  ,  .  . 

"  Our  American  brethren  and  sisters  grow  in  our  esteem, 


ZEAL  FOR  THE  GOSPEL,  205 

and  I  think  they  will  be  devoted  missionaries.  None  of 
the  sisters  are  strong  or  likely  to  become  so.  Messrs. 
Lindley  and  Venables  have  resolved  to  leave  this  for 
Mosega  some  time  next  month,  in  order  to  get  the  house 
put  in  order.  They  will  likely  be  absent  for  at  least  three 
months.  Dr.  Wilson  remains  here  with  the  ladies.  The 
brethren  are  now  making  preparations.  They  will  also 
print  a  few  lessons  in  the  Setebele  language  from  the  words 
they  have  collected.  Frederick  and  Baba  have  engaged  to 
go  with  them,  and  others  are  willing  to  go.  They  are  all 
in  good  spirits.  They  are  often  at  this  side  of  the  village, 
and  of  course  we  see  each  other  many  times  in  a  day.  We 
feel  happy  in  aiding  them  in  every  way  we  can.  Their 
undertaking  is  an  arduous  one,  and  they  need  our  sym- 
pathy and  prayers.  They  have  a  glorious  Leader  and  an 
almighty  King.  Trials  they  will  have,  but  the  cause  will 
prevail. 

"  As  far  as  I  am  able  to  judge,  the  work  of  the  Lord  is 
still  progressing  here.  A  great  work  is  yet  to  be  done. 
What  has  been  accomplished  is  only  like  a  handful  of  corn. 
May  it  shake  as  Lebanon  !  I  am  beginning  to  think,  since 
I  visited  Mothibi's,  that  we  want  in  zeal.  The  work  of 
conversion,  or  endeavours  to  convert  sinners,  is  not  so  much 
the  primary  object  of  our  souls  as  it  ought  to  be.  If  I 
speak  for  myself  I  must  say  that  I  do  not  feel  that  sym- 
pathy for  the  awful  condition  of  my  fellow-men  which  their 
state  ought  to  excite  in  every  Christian  bosom.  When  I 
look  at  the  Man  of  Sorrows,  His  toilsome  days  and  mid- 
night prayers,  and  the  burning  zeal  of  the  first  ministers 
of  the  gospel,  I  feel  as  if  I  had  not  the  same  mind  or  spirit. 
There  was  no  abatement  of  their  zeal  till  they  had  finished 
their  course  with  joy." 

Mary  Moffat  to  her  FatJier. 

' '  Port  Elizabeth,  April  14,  1836. 

"  My  last  was  written  to  you  in  October,  after  the  arrival 

of  my  dear  Robert  from  his  journey  to  Mosllikatse.     The 

expedition  arrived  in  November,  having  been   obliged  to 

return,  after  getting  just  within  the  tropics,  from  failure  of 


2o5  WAITING  FOR  THE  RIVER. 

oxen.  They  got  no  further  than  some  of  our  travellers 
have  done  before  ;  but  I  expect  Dr.  Smith  will  be  able  to 
interest  the  scientific  world.  I  see  from  the  papers  that 
people  at  the  Cape  are  enthusiastic  about  it,  not  only  with 
regard  to  the  objects  of  science,  but  the  relations  of  the 
native  tribes  with  the  Colony.  We  left  the  Kuruman  on 
the  19th  of  November  ;  Robert  accompanied  us  to  the 
Vaal  River,  over  which  we  walked  dry  shod,  and,  finding 
it  so  low,  we  never  dreamed  of  getting  the  Orange  River 
in  flood  ;  but  so  it  was,  and  I  was  compelled  to  lie  on  the 
banks  of  that  mighty  stream  for  one  round  month.  I  was 
in  company  with  a  Mr.  Hume,  with  whom  I  had  travelled 
before,  preferring  to  go  with  him  rather  than  with  the  expe- 
dition. Mr.  Hume  rendered  me  every  possible  assistance, 
but  my  health  being  in  such  a  delicate  state  I  could  not 
but  suffer  much  from  the  extreme  heat  and  exposed  situa- 
tion, and  was  severely  tried,  often  hesitating  whether  to 
return.  Frequently  were  we  tantalized  with  the  prospect  of 
being  able  to  ride  through  '  to-morrow,'  but  as  sure  as  to- 
morrow came  the  river  rose  again,  till  all  hope  was  gone, 
and  we  came  at  last  to  the  conclusion  to  cross  on  a  raft, 
some  Boers  higher  up  having  commenced  so  doing.  We 
joined  a  party  of  them,  and  got  over  very  well.  There  were 
eighteen  waggons  altogether,  and  with  hard  labour  we  got 
everything  over  that  frightful  river  in  less  than  three  days 
without  a  single  accident.  How  much  have  we  to  be  thankful 
for!  and  it  was  gratifying  to  find  that  for  all  I  had  endured 
I  was  no  worse,  but  rather  better.  Perhaps  being  obliged 
to  take  it  easily  was  in  my  favour,  for  it  was  impossible  to 
be  active  through  the  day  for  want  of  shade,  and  by  the 
time  the  sun  was  down  my  strength  was  all  gone,  so  that 
I  could  not  walk,  except  to  the  water's  edge  and  back. 

"  The  raft  was  a  much  better  conveyance  than  I  had 
supposed.  It  was  made  of  four  or  five  willow  trees  tied 
together  with  bark  of  the  river  thorn,  and  again  two  or 
three  trees  tied  across  underneath.  To  this  they  fastened 
a  strong  rope  of  bullock's  hide  on  either  side,  and  then 
able-bodied  men  drew  it  at  their  pleasure  back  and  for- 
wards from  one  bank  to  the  other.     They  chose  a  narrow 


SENDING  CHILDREN  AWAY  TO  SCHOOL.     207 

place  between  rocks  which  were  convenient  for  landing.  It 
was  eighty  yards  across  ;  but  where  we  had  lain  so  long, 
hoping  to  ride  through,  it  was  five  hundred  yards  across. 
Each  waggon  was  brought  over  piecemeal  in  two  trips,  and 
the  contents  afterwards.  It  was  a  time  of  great  anxiety 
to  me,  the  river  being  tremendously  deep,  but  the  Lord  my 
God  graciously  heard  and  answered  my  prayers,  and  ex- 
ceeded all  my  expectations.  We  recommenced  our  journey 
on  the  4th  of  January,  and  arrived  in  Grahamstown  the 
latter  end  of  the  month  ;  but  finding  myself  extremely  weak, 
it  was  judged  proper  for  me  to  get  to  the  sea  coast  as  soon 
as  possible.  I  got  my  children  from  Salem,  and  went  down 
in  company  with  Mr,  and  Mrs.  Monro  to  a  place  called  the 
Kowie,  on  the  borders  of  Kafirland,  I  was  obliged  to  re- 
turn before  I  had  been  there  three  weeks,  but  found  my 
strength  much  recruited. 

"  My  oxen  have  suffered  so  much  that  I  could  not  get 
away  from  Grahamstown  again  till  the  beginning  of  the 
last  month,  and  even  then  I  was  obliged  to  leave  one 
waggon,  which  necessitates  my  returning  that  way.  And 
now  I  am  detained  here  for  want  of  a  suitable  conveyance 
for  the  children  to  the  Cape,  all  the  vessels  which  have  left 
hitherto  being  destitute  of  female  passengers  who  could 
take  charge  of  them.  I  am,  however,  congratulated  by  all 
my  friends  here  for  the  necessity  that  is  laid  upon  me  to 
stop,  as  my  health  is  daily  improving." 

Mary  Moffat  had  come  to  the  resolution  to  send 
the  three  elder  children  to  school  at  the  Cape.  It 
was,  as  thing's  v^ent  in  those  days,  a  great  venture, 
but  her  faith  was  also  great. 

"  Port  Elizabeth,  May  2,  1836. 
"My  dear  Robert, — No  doubt  you  are  perfectly  amazed 
to  see  the  date  of  this,  but  be  assured  it  has  not  been  my 
fault  that  I  am  not  now  at  least  at  Cradock  ;  but  for  your 
consolation  I  now  inform  you  that  if  my  Heavenly  Father 
does  not  again  see  fit  to  cross  my  plans,  I  hope  to  be  at  the 
Kuruman  about  the  end  of  June,  but  not  one  day  sooner  ; 


2o8     EMBARKATION  UNDER  DIFFICULTIES. 

it  is  impossible,  I  wrote  to  you  just  four  weeks  ago,  since 
which  my  patience  has  had  a  severe  trial  in  detention 
against  my  will.  Three  weeks  ago  I  took  a  passage  for  the 
children,  when  they  were  to  sail  in  a  few  days,  and  only 
last  Friday  was  the  final  day.  The  Monday  before  I  was 
getting  terribly  impatient,  but  suddenly  got  a  check.  Mary 
was  taken  very  ill  on  Monday  evening ;  her  symptoms  were 
so  violent  that  she  was  twice  bled,  and  had  to  take  much 
medicine.  You  may  in  some  degree  conceive  of  my  anxiety 
expecting  every  hour  to  be  called  on  board.  During  the 
whole  of  Tuesday  I  was  harassed  with  messages  that  the 
ship  was  to  sail.  On  Wednesday  I  was  kept  in  the  same 
state  of  agitation,  besides  grief  on  Mary's  account,  want  of 
sleep,  and  excessive  fatigue.  The  captain  having  assured 
me  the  day  before  that  I  should  have  timely  warning  I 
tried  to  keep  myself  easy,  though  some  of  my  friends 
urged  me  to  be  off ;  but  knowing  the  anxiety  of  the  pas- 
sengers, I  viewed  it  all  as  report,  foolishly  trusting  to  the 
captain's  promise,  which  he  forgot.  All  the  passengers 
were  on  board,  when  good  old  Mr.  Kemp  came  and  assured 
me  that  the  vessel  was  to  sail  before  morning.  The  moon 
had  now  risen.  It  was  just  time  to  put  the  little  ones  to 
bed.  Mary  was  altogether  unfit  to  go,  and  I  had  no  alter- 
native but  to  pack  up  and  get  the  others  away  without  her. 
Mrs.  Atkinson  and  Mrs.  Chalmers,  who  were  here,  agreed 
to  stop  with  Mary,  and  Mrs.  Robson  and  I  went  on  board 
accompanied  by  the  good  old  gentleman.  I  make  no 
attempt  to  describe  my  feelings.  The  very  evening,  fine, 
still,  clear,  and  a  full  moon  beaming  on  the  water  :  it  was 
enough  to  produce  a  sentimental  feeling,  but  I  had  little 
time  for  this.  Deep  perplexity  and  consideration  of  the 
mystery  of  this  providence  absorbed  much  of  my  thoughts. 
I  left  the  two  dear  children  in  comfortable  circumstances 
and  in  good  company,  among  them  Mr.  Thomson,  of 
Grahamstown,  who  assured  me  of  paying  them  every  atten- 
tion as  the  father  of  a  family.  When  we  left  the  vessel 
they  were  speaking  of  drawing  up  the  anchor,  and  just  as 
the  evening  gun  went  off  the  captain  passed  us  in  the  last 
boat. 


MARY  MOFFAT  IN  PORT  ELIZABETH.     209 

"  Two  or  three  times  in  the  night  I  arose  to  try  if  I 
could  see  the  Briton,  but  the  light  was  not  sufficient.  In 
the  morning,  however,  I  saw  a  vessel  had  made  out  and 
was  opposite  Cape  Receife,  and  supposed  it  was  she. 
About  ten  o'clock,  however,  Mr.  Robson  came,  out  of  breath, 
to  tell  me  the  Briton  was  still  in  the  bay,  and  the  wind 
contrary.  This  was  good  news  to  me,  as  there  was  still 
a  chance  of  getting  Mary  away  should  she  be  detained 
another  night.  Thursday  evening  I  went  down  to  Mr. 
Kemp  and  begged  of  him  to  order  a  boat  to  be  in  readiness 
to-morrow  morning  should  there  be  any  signs  of  the  Briton 
sailing.  Ac  Mary  continued  to  recover,  I  now  began  to 
hope  ;  and,  after  committing  the  matter  to  the  Father  of 
mercies,  laid  me  down  quite  composed,  concluding  that  if 
the  vessel  were  away  before  daylight  it  was  for  some 
gracious  reason,  and  if  not,  I  should  certainly  get  her  on 
board.  As  soon  as  day  dawned  I  went  to  the  window  to 
see,  but  all  was  still.  I  lay  down  again,  but  was  soon 
roused,  hearing  that  Mr.  Chick  wanted  me.  He  told  me 
the  vessel  would  soon  be  off.  I  sent  for  Mrs.  Robson,  and 
we  soon  got  Mary  up  and  a  chair  prepared  for  her.  She 
walked  part  of  the  way,  and  was  carried  through  the  sand. 
The  ship  was  now  under  weigh,  and  we  followed  her  about 
four  or  five  miles.  Mary  bore  it  well.  My  mind  was 
greatly  relieved  by  finding  Ann  and  Robert  perfectly 
happy.  The  ship  was  out  of  sight  early  in  the  afternoon. 
It  is  now  stormy,  and  I  think  much  of  Cape  Lagulhas,  but 
am  enabled  to  hope  in  that  mercy  which  has  always 
attended  us." 

Mary  Aloffat  to  her  Fat  J  ten 

"  KUKUMAN,  July  18,  1836. 

"  I  wrote  to  you  some  time  in  April  at  Port  Elizabeth 
while  waiting  for  the  sailing  of  the  vessel  which  was  to 
convey  our  children  to  the  Cape.  On  the  8th  of  May  I, 
with  my  three  little  ones,  left  that  place  for  Grahamstown, 
where  we  arrived  on  the  13th.  I  remained  there  until 
the  following  post  day  to  have  the  satisfaction  of  hear- 
ing of  the   children,  which,  through  the   kindness  of  our 

15 


210     THEY  MEET  AT  THE  ORANGE  RIVER. 

Heavenly  Father,  I  did.  They  had  rather  a  dangerous 
passage  of  eleven  days,  but  were  well  and  in  good  spirits. 
On  the  evening  of  the  same  day  I  left  Grahamstown  for 
home,  and  had  a  pretty  comfortable  journey,  having  been 
favoured  with  very  fine  weather  for  the  season,  never 
having  suffered  from  the  cold.  Having  before  I  left  Port 
Elizabeth  written  to  my  dear  Robert  to  tell  him  about  what 
time  I  expected  to  be  at  the  Orange  River,  he  providentially 
received  the  letter,  and  left  home  on  horseback  to  meet  me 
there.  I  arrived  at  the  last  farmhouse  close  to  the  river 
on  the  15th  of  June  about  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon, 
and  about  five  he  arrived  !  This  circumstance  was  rather 
surprising,  as  such  an  occurrence  is  very  rare  in  this  country 
where  travellers  meet  with  such  a  variety  of  incidents  to 
cross  their  plans.  I  had  been  particularly  anxious  that  I 
might  meet  him  there,  though  I  considered  there  were 
many  probabilities  against  me,  and  could  not  but  consider 
it  a  special  providence  towards  us.  The  formidable  river 
was  again  to  be  crossed,  though  then  fordable  with  waggons ; 
but  the  water  was  pretty  high,  having  never  run  off  entirely 
since  I  was  floated  over.  I  had  had  to  buy  sheep  and  cows 
from  the  farmers,  and  all  these  would  have  been  an  increase 
to  my  cares  in  crossing,  which  I  did  not  need  ;  therefore 
Robert's  arrival  was  most  seasonable  to  me  in  every  light 
of  the  subject.  And  thus  to  meet  again  in  circumstances 
of  health  and  comfort  was  certainly  enough  to  overwhelm 
us  with  gratitude  to  our  gracious  Benefactor  ;  and  we  came 
on  our  way  rejoicing  in  that  goodness  which  so  graciously 
led  us  and  protected  us  in  our  separation. 

"  We  found  all  well  here.  Two  of  the  American  brethren 
with  their  wives  had  gone  to  their  station  at  Mosega,  the 
spot  where  the  French  brethren  commenced,  "and  where 
Mosilikatse  now  lives — at  least  occasionally.  Mr.  Lindley 
left  to  follow  them  on  the  14th,  so  that  we  consider  that 
mission  now  fairly  commenced.  Mr.  Lemue  is  prospering 
at  Motito.  Patience  and  perseverance  are  two  essential 
qualities  in  a  missionary  in  this  country,  without  which  no 
one  will  succeed. 

"  We  are  now  experiencing  some  heavy  trials.     Some  of 


STATE  OF  THE  MISSION.  211 

our  church  members  have  grievously  departed  from  the 
path  of  rectitude,  and  this  produces  in  our  mind  great 
jealousy  over  others  who  are  making  a  profession,  and 
makes  us  slow  about  encouraging  them,  lest  they  also 
should  wound  the  cause.  There  are  many  candidates  of 
long  standing,  but  in  general  they  do  not  give  the  satis- 
faction they  ought.  Their  natural  apathy  is  a  great  barrier 
to  their  improvement.  The  school  is  not  flourishing  as  it 
was,  and  we  can  scarcely  account  for  it,  except  that  some 
few  families  have  left  the  place  on  account  of  the  discipline 
which  it  has  been  necessary  to  exercise. 

"  The  translating  and  printing  are  going  on.  The  Scrip- 
ture lessons  which  were  in  hand  are  finished,  a  volume  of 
443  pages.  The  Assembly's  Catechism  is  also  in  print  and 
in  use  ;  readers  are  increasing  in  every  direction.  A  man 
was  here  last  week  to  fetch  away  his  daughter  to  go  and 
teach  the  people  at  Mothibi's  to  read.  She  is  a  clever  girl, 
and  has  lived  all  her  life  on  the  station,  and  we  doubt  not 
will  instruct  them  well." 


CHAPTER    XXII. 

DISTURBANCES  IN  THE  INTERIOR. 
1837. 

TH  E  next  three  years  were  a  period  of  tranquil 
prosperity  in  the  Kuruman  Mission,  the  only 
cloud  upon  which  was  the  declining  health  of 
Mary  Moffat,  who  had  never  recovered  thoroughly 
from  the  shock  of  a  severe  illness  in  1835. 

The  knowledge  and  conviction  of  the  truth  were 
steadily  growing  upon  the  station  itself.  Year  by 
year  the  community  of  professing  believers  grew 
larger,  and  as  they  advanced  in  spiritual  life  their 
outward  demeanour  and  manner  of  life  improved 
also.  The  population  was  small  ;  some  were  drawn 
to  the  station  by  their  desire  for  instruction,  whilst 
others  clung  to  their  heathenism  and  shrank  from 
the  light  in  which  it  lay  bare  at  the  Kuruman,  and 
they  withdrew  to  a  distance  where  they  could  follow 
their  old  practices  with  less  disturbance  of  conscience. 

The  three  missionaries  worked  together  with  a 
will.  Upon  Moffat  fell  the  largest  share  of  duty — 
from  his  more  complete  mastery  of  the  Sechwana 
language,   and   his  personal   ascendency  over  men. 


LABOURS,  MENTAL  AND  MANUAL.       213 

He  had  been  called  especially  to  the  great  work  of 
translating  the  Scriptures,  but  his  colleague,  Roger 
Edwards,  took  a  large  share  of  the  printing  and  the 
whole  of  the  school  work  ;  and  Robert  Hamilton, 
though  well  stricken  in  years,  and  never  able  to 
acquire  the  Sechwana  language,  quietly  went  about 
his  daily  labour  in  the  mechanical  department  of  the 
mission,  supplementing  in  Dutch,  by  the  aid  of  a 
native  interpreter,  the  preaching  of  his  colleagues 
when  necessary. 

The  great  church  was  still  in  progress.  It  stands 
to-day  a  monument  of  the  patient  labours  of  these 
three  men  whose  only  European  assistants  were 
Hume  and  Millen,  the  latter  of  whom  had  died 
before  the  completion  of  the  work.  The  Bechwanas, 
however  willing,  could  give  but  little  help  except 
their  unskilled  labour ;  and  it  is  a  matter  of  surprise 
to  those  who  have  seen  it  how  this,  for  many  years 
the  largest  building  to  the  north  of  the  Orange 
River,  could  have  been  put  up  with  such  scanty 
means  as  were  then  available. 

Meanwhile  the  printing  office  was  constantly  at 
work.  The  increase  of  those  who  were  easfer  to 
learn  caused  a  continual  and  growing  demand  for 
books  from  the  outlying  districts.  It  will  be  re- 
membered that  the  Batlaping  tribe,  to  which  the 
missionaries  were  originally  sent,  continually  harassed 
by  the  western  marauders,  had  moved  to  the  south- 
east, and,  breaking  up  into  sections,  had  scattered 
along  the  Kolong  or  Hart  River,  a  tributary  of  the 
Vaal.  In  the  same  neighbourhood  had  settled  some 
of  the  Barolong  and  Bahurutse  from  the  interior  ; 
and  there  was  also  a  tribe  of  Korannas^  under  their 


214  THE  BOERS  AND  MOSILIKATSE, 

chief  Mosheu,  whose  headquarters  were  at  a  place 
called  Mamusa,  now  known  as  Vryburg,  the  chief 
village  of  the  modern  Stellaland.  It  was  long 
hoped  that  the  Batlaping  might  be  led  to  return  to 
the  Kuruman.  They  had  found,  however,  that  their 
new  country  was  far  superior  to  the  old  in  its  fitness 
for  cattle,  and  the  return  has  never  taken  place. 

The  Directors  had  not  yet  seen  their  way  to 
sending  a  missionary  to  them,  s<)  that  their  old 
teachers,  still  at  Kuruman,  felt  a  call  to  visit  them 
from  time  to  time,  and  with  considerable  encourao-e- 
ment.  Then,  again,  the  Batlaro  tribe  to  the  west- 
ward was  showing  a  greater  desire  for  instruction, 
and  thus  new  demands  were  made  upon  their  time 
and  strength.  So  that  what  with  the  work  on  the 
station,  and  that  throughout  the  district,  even  with 
such  assistance  as  could  be  given  by  the  converts, 
■every  energy  was  taxed  ;  but  it  was  with  the  joyful 
feeling  that  every  effort  was  telling  in  the  right 
direction. 

Meanwhile,  in  the  year  1837,  the  aspect  of  affairs 
in  the  interior  underwent  an  ominous  change.  The 
■emigration  of  the  Dutch  farmers,  disaffected  to 
British  rule,  had  commenced.  One  party  of  these 
had  come  into  collision  with  the  warriors  of  Mosili- 
katse.  The  Boers  had  intruded  on  what  he  con- 
sidered his  domain,  and  had  refused  to  retire.  The 
Boers  defended  themselves  successfully  in  an  en- 
trenchment of  their  waggons,  repulsing  the  Mate- 
bele  with  great  slaughter,  but  losing  all  their  oxen. 
They  were  extricated  from  their  dangerous  predica- 
ment by  their  friends  further  south,  and  shordy 
•afterwards  they  planned  an  invasion  for  the  double 


FATAL  BLOW   TO  AMERICAN  MISSION.     215 

purpose  of  plunder  and  vengeance,  which  was  so 
well  carried  out  that  Mosilikatse  was  taken  by 
surprise,  and  a  great  booty  in  cattle  swept  away. 

Unhappily  the  attack  of  the  Boers  was  directed 
upon  the  very  spot  where  lay  the  newly-formed 
American  missionary  station.  This  was  destroyed. 
The  missionaries  were  in  a  pitiable  condition.  They 
had  been  prostrated  by  fever  for  some  time,  and  they 
were  led  to  fear  that  on  the  departure  of  the  Boers 
the  infuriated  Matebele  would  return  and  wreak 
their  passion  upon  them  ;  for  it  would  have  been 
difficult  to  convince  them  that  they  had  not  in  some 
way  been  acting  as  the  spies  of  the  enemy.  Under 
these  impressions  they  accompanied  the  Boers,  thus 
deepening  an  impression  of  this  kind  which  not 
unnaturally  did  find  place  in  the  minds  of  the 
Matebele.  It  was  a  fatal  blow  to  that  mis^on,  and 
a  difficulty  in  the  way  of  all  future  endeavours. 

Mosilikatse,  seeing  that  with  the  continual  in- 
cursions of  Dingaan,  the  Zulu  king,  from  the  east- 
ward, and  with  this  new  danger  threatening  him 
from  the  south,  there  was  little  hope  of  holding  his 
ground  where  he  was,  gathered  his  warriors  and  his 
herds  of  cattle  and  started  to  the  far  north-east. 
He  disappeared  into  what  was  the  vast  unknovyn 
region  south  of  the  Zambezi  so  completely  that  for 
some  years  nothing  was  known  of  him  except  by 
vague  rumour,  and  his  actual  existence  came  to  be 
a  matter  of  doubt. 

Mary  Mojfat  to  her  Father  in  1838. 
"  I  must  now  leave  this  half-page  for  the  relation  of  a 
most  painful  event,  one  of  the  most  painful  in  the  annals 
of  this  unhappy  country.     The  Zulu  Mission  on  our  side 


2i6         AMERICANS  LEAVE  FOR  NATAL. 

is  broken  up,  and  the  Americans  have  left  the  country  to 
go  to  Port  Natal,  and  to  join  their  brethren  who  are  with 
Dingaan  (the  successor  of  Chaka)  on  the  coast.  You  have 
probably  heard  that  some  thousands  of  disaffected  Boers 
have  emigrated  to  Natal  and  the  interior.  We  have 
anticipated  the  direst  events  from  them,  and  these  have 
commenced.  They  have  approached  the  territory  of 
Mosilikatse,  his  people  have  attacked  them,  they  (the 
Boers)  have  since  fallen  upon  him,  killed  many  men,  and 
taken  six  thousand  head  of  cattle  ;  and  with  them  the 
missionaries  have  fled.  This  is  all  we  know  at  present, 
but  we  expect  an  explanation  every  hour,  as  some  of  our 
people  were  with  them,  and  are  on  their  way  home. 

"  More  than  six  weeks  ago  the  brethren  here  had  every- 
thing ready,  with  six  waggons  to  fetch  timber  from  thence, 
but  were  prevented  from  starting  by  the  rains,  when  the 
report  of  this  event  reached  us.  We  could  not  at  once 
give  credit  to  it,  but  it  was  agreed  to  defer  the  journey  for 
a  time. 

"  Yesterday  a  letter  arrived  from  a  Wesleyan  brother 
stationed  east  of  Philippolis,  stating  that  the  Americans 
were  there,  and  going  to  Natal !  The  interior  is  now 
effectually  closed,  and  if  Government  wink  at  the  pro- 
ceedings of  these  Boers  they  will  annihilate  the  aborigines, 
as  we  hear  they  intend  seating  themselves  in  the  Bahurutse 
country,  and  they  themselves  will  doubtless  become 
formidable  to  the  Colony." 

"  April  ^//i. 

"  My  dear  Father, — Robert  was  to  have  filled  up  this 
blank,  but  has  more  to  do  than  he  can  accomplish  before 
the  people  leave.  We  have  just  heard  from  Dr,  Wilson 
by  our  two  men,  but  his  letter  is  short  and  not  explanatory. 
The  brethren  and  sisters  have  been  heavily  afflicted.  In 
the  latter  end  of  August  a  fever  commenced  among  them, 
which  carried  off  dear  Mrs.  Wilson.  All  took  it  in  suc- 
cession except  the  Doctor,  who  writes  that  he  had  done 
nothing  for  four  months  but  attend  to  the  sick  and  to  his 
own  motherless  tbabe. 

"  In  this  state :  the  Boers  came  upon  them  quite  unex- 


DARK   FOREBODINGS.  217 

pectedly  one  morning  early.  The  Zulus  were  entirely  oft" 
their  guard,  knowing  nothing  till  the  bullets  were  'flying 
about  them  in  every  direction.  The  Boers  brutally  com- 
menced hostilities  at  the  mission  station,  and  one  ball  fell 
at  the  foot  of  the  bed  on  which  Mr,  Venables  lay  sick. 
The  outhouse  in  which  their  servants  slept  was  literally 
shot  to  pieces.  Two  of  our  poor  people  who  were  with 
them,  one  of  them  a  lad  we  brought  up,  have  disappeared, 
and  it  is  not  known  whether  they  were  killed  or  fled.  One 
of  those  who  has  come  back  narrowly  escaped  several 
times.  What  induced  the  missionaries  to  go  with  the 
Boers  we  do  not  yet  know,  but  are  inclined  to  think,  from 
what  the  men  tell  us,  that  they  submitted  to  whatever  the 
Boers  wished.  These  pillaged  the  house  before  their  eyes, 
and  when  the  missionaries  left,  the  Boers  were  still  in  the 
house,  packing  up  all  that  their  horses  could  carry.  Thus 
the  poor  brethren  have  been  in  great  perils,  but  these 
enemies  were  not  suffered  to  take  their  lives.  This,  it 
appears,  some  of  them  wished  to  do." 

Robert  Moffat  to  his  Father-in-lazv  later. 

"  We  heard  nothing  more  from  our  brethren  till  a  short 
time  ago;  another  few  lines  came  from  Dr.  Wilson  at 
Grahamstown.  We  are  truly  sorry  to  see  the  Matebele 
Mission  once  more  abandoned,  and  the  interior  covered 
with  a  dark  cloud,  with  the  prospect  of  any  other  attempt 
tenfold  more  hopeless  than  ever.  The  means  also  by 
which  this  painful  event  has  been  brought  about  must 
have  a  baneful  influence  on  the  minds  of  the  interior 
natives,  and  will  lead  them,  and  especially  the  Matebele,  to 
think  anything  but  well  of  the  Government  of  the  white 
people.  From  the  testimony  of  our  two  young  men,  who, 
as  it  proved,  escaped  in  the  attack,  and  were  some  weeks 
among  the  Matebele,  and  kindly  treated  by  them,  it  is 
evident  that  Mosilikatse  deeply  regretted  the  departure  of 
the  missionaries. 

"  They  are  by  this  time  in  Natal,  but  if  all  be  true  that 
we  read  they  will  have  their  troubles  there,  from  the 
tyranny  of  Dingaan,  who   seems   to   be   looking   with   a 


2i8    MATEBELE  REAP  WHAT  THEY  SOWED, 

jealous  eye  on  his  white  neighbours,  who  have  located 
themselves  on  the  coast.  We  wonder  and  wonder  again 
to  witness  the  apathy  of  the  Government  in  allowing  so 
many  hundreds  of  its  subjects  to  pass  the  boundaries  of 
the  Colony,  and  by  force  of  superior  arms  to  mark  their 
course  among  the  native  tribes  with  blood.  If  they  are 
not  interrupted  the  success  of  our  interior  missions  will 
soon  be  at  an  end.  These  Boers  are  from  various  parts  of 
the  Colony,  are  discontented  with  the  British  Government, 
and  have  been  for  the  last  two  years  emigrating  to  what 
they  think  a  better  country.  We  are  glad  that  none  come 
in  this  direction. 

"  The  evils  now  coming  on  the  Matebele  are  only  what 
I  expected.  Mosilikatse  has  ruled  with  an  iron  sceptre, 
and  his  warriors  have,  full  often  unprovoked,  shed  the  blood 
of  thousands,  and  thousands  more  have  been  driven  from 
affluence  to  the  most  abject  poverty.  I  have  more  than 
once  told  him  that  if  he  did  not  change  his  government 
and  prohibit  deliberate  destruction  of  human  life,  the 
innocent  blood  which  deluged  his  country  would  soon 
call  down  vengeance  from  heaven.  It  is  to  us  blind 
creatures,  in  the  awful  mysteries  of  Providence,  painful  to 
see  professing  Christians  becoming  the  sword  of  Jehovah. 

"  Whether  he  will  stand  or  fall  in  the  present  crisis  is 
doubtful,  as  Dingaan  is  assailing  him  from  the  south-east. 
Past  events  in  this  country  make  us  thankful  for  the  bless- 
ings of  peace  here.  The  number  of  inhabitants  is  con- 
stantly increasing.  We  have  abundance  of  work,  and  much 
more  than  we  can  attend  to.  This,  of  course,  makes  trans- 
lation and  printing  go  on  slowly.  The  brethren,  Hamilton 
and  Edwards,  are  now  daily  employed  in  preparing  the 
roof  of  our  new  place  of  worship." 

Mary  Moffat  to  her  Father. 

"  KURUMAN,  March  5,  1838. 

"  We  should  now  bring  the  girls  home,  but  do  not  know 
when  we  shall  be  able  to  go,  as  it  will  be  difficult  for 
Robert  to  leave  the  place.  He  intended  to  finish  the 
translation  of  the  New  Testament,  that  it  might  be  printed 


THE  FRENCH  MISSIONARIES  AT  MOTITO.  219 

in  Cape  Town,  it  being  too  great  a  task  to  accomplish 
here,  unless  we  had  a  printer.  The  field  of  labour  is  now 
greatly  extending,  and  the  Directors  seem  reluctant  to 
afford  us  aid.  You  will  thus  readily  perceive  that  my  dear 
husband's  labours  are  manifold,  by  far  too  much  so.  If  we 
do  not  soon  get  assistance  he  will  have  to  lay  aside  transla- 
tion altogether,  which  would  be  much  to  be  regretted,  as 
his  whole  soul  is  in  it  ;  and  any  one  who  has  witnessed  the 
change  amongst  the  Bechwana  tribes  since  they  got  some 
portions  of  Holy  Writ  must  feel  anxious  that  they  should 
have  more.  Were  he  relieved  entirely  from  the  printing 
he  could  be  much  better  employed,  nor  could  his  health  be 
likely  to  suffer  as  it  now  does.  He  is  a  very  bad  sleeper, 
and,  when  overdone  with  mental  exercise,  sometimes  passes 
whole  nights,  with  the  exception  of  an  hour  or  two,  in 
restless  tossings." 

About  thirty-six  miles  to  the.  north-east  of  Kuru- 
man  lay  Motito,  the  station  occupied  by  the  French 
missionaries  on  their  retirement  from  the  Matebele 
country.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Lemue  now  represented 
the  Paris  Society  there,  their  colleagues  having 
accepted  the  great  opportunities  which  had  opened 
to  them  In  Basutoland.  An  affectionate  Intercourse 
was  kept  up  between  Kuruman  and  Motito,  and 
none  who  knew  the  Lemues  could  wonder  at  this. 
The  following  gives  a  peep  of  Moffat  keeping 
bachelor  house,  with  his  two  younger  children.  In 
the  absence  of  their  mother,  at  Motito,  whither  she 
had  been  summoned  on  account  of  the  severe  Illness 
of  Mrs.  Lemue  : 

"  April,  1838,  Sabbath  Evening. 

"  The  bell  has  just  been  rung,  and  I  am  alone  with  Jim 
and  Jack,  the  one  on  my  right  hand,  and  the  other  on  my 
left,  talking  and  questioning  with  no  little  volubility,  so 
that  my  attention  is  divided,  for  I  do  not  like  to  command 


220  A  PEEP  INTO  THE  HOME. 

silence.  As  soon  as  the  messenger  left  on  Friday  I  went 
to  the  printing  office  and  made  arrangements  so  that 
Brother  Edwards  could  go  on.  Friday  night  was  one  of 
sleep,  you  may  believe  ;  though  I  awoke  early  and  was  at 
the  type  before  I  could  see  a  from  d.  With  hard  tugging 
we  managed  to  get  a  proof  sheet.  Brother  Hamilton  left 
for  the  Batlaros  at  noon,  so  that  I  was  alone  in  the  evening, 
but  not  in  solitude,  for  who  could  be  in  the  company  of 
Jim  and  Jack?  Jim  let  me  see  that  he  could  put  his  foot 
into  either  end  of  his  shoes.  I  took  the  hint  and  repaired 
them.  I  had  scarcely  finished  this  work  when  he  perched 
himself  at  the  end  of  the  table  and  stood  in  the  attitude  of 
a  Grecian  orator,  and  questioned  me  about  the  resurrection 
from  the  dead.  The  conversation,  or  rather  the  contention, 
lasted  for  more  than  half  an  hour,  while  Jack  stood  with 
his  hands  crossed  behind  his  back  wondering  and  some- 
times repeating  Jim's  inquiries. 

"Never  in  my  life  was  I  so  delighted  with  the  questions 
of  a  child.  '  Will  these  hairs,'  laying  his  hand  on  his  brow, 
'also  come  out  of  the  dust  on  that  day?'  'Could  the 
naughty  children  who  have  died  come  back  and  hear 
preaching  they  would  not  be  naughty  again.'  '  How  can 
that  which  has  decayed  become  alive  again  ? '  'I  know 
mamma  says  that  God  is  a  very,  very  great  God  ;  will  He 
make  the  dead  come  out  of  their  graves?'  I  gave  a  few 
simple  hints  about  the  coming  of  Christ.  When  I  asked 
where  he  had  heard  of  Christ  coming  in  flames  of  fire,  he 
said,  '  Do  not  you  teach  the  people  that  He  will  come  in 
that  way  ?  '  Enough  of  this  subject.  People  are  coming 
for  medicine,  and  I  must  get  the  lads  to  bed.  They  have 
put  twenty  or  more  questions  while  I  have  been  writing." 

The  Jim  mentioned  here  u^as  at  this  time  between 
five  and  six  years  old,  and  before  another  year  had 
fulfilled  its  course  he  went  to  the  dimly-known  world 
about  which  his  child-mind  was  already  so  busy. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

VISIT   TO    ENGLAND. 
I 838-1 841. 

TOWARD  the  end  of  1S38  the  Moffats 
started  for  Cape  Town.  If  no  other  reason 
had  called  for  the  journey  it  was  necessary 
for  health  ;  but  apart  from  this,  the  translation  of 
the  New  Testament  was  now  complete,  and  the 
printing  was  too  heavy  a  task  to  be  accomplished  on 
the  station.  It  proved  that  Cape  Town  was  no 
better  off  in  this  respect.  No  office  there  was  in 
a  position  to  undertake  book  printing  on  the  scale 
required,  and  it  became  plain  that  the  work  would 
have  to  be  done  in  England. 

A  passage  was  accordingly  taken.  The  ship  was 
on  her  way  from  China.  She  was  not  of  the  best, 
being  small,  and  carrying  troops ;  but  there  was  little 
or  no  choice,  and  the  voyagers  had  to  embark  under 
circumstances  calling  for  the  exercise  of  great  faith 
and  patience.  A  severe  epidemic  of  measles  was 
raging  at  the  Cape,  of  which  the  Moffat  family  and 
their  native  attendants  had  come  in  for  a  heavy 
share  ;  and  there  was  also  much  sickness  on  board 


222    BIRTH  AND  DEATH  ON  BOARD  SHIP. 

the  ship.  There  was  no  alternative  but  to  embark 
at  the  time  fixed.  Friends  at  the  Cape  behaved 
with  their  usual  kindness,  and  especially  Mr. 
Mathew,  of  Claremont,  who  smoothed  over  many 
difficulties  and  made  matters  easier  for  the  almost 
bewildered  missionary  and  his  wife  in  a  way  they 
could  never  forget  to  the  last  hour  of  their  lives. 

They  had  not  yet  left  Table  Bay  when  a  daughter 
was  born.  In  a  few  hours  the  ship  put  to  sea,  but 
severe  weather  set  in,  with  contrary  winds,  and  in 
the  midst  of  the  general  distress  it  became  apparent 
to  the  mother  that  her  beloved  Jamie  was  sinking. 
He  had  never  thoroughly  overcome  the  measles, 
and  dysentery  had  followed.  Three  days  after  the 
birth  of  his  sister  he  passed  away  at  the  age  of  six 
years.  His  mother,  finding  all  around  her  prostrate 
with  sea-sickness,  had  him  brought  and  laid  beside 
her  in  the  cot  from  which  she  could  not  rise. 
Amidst  the  storm  he  lay  upon  her  arm  peacefully 
talkinq-  of  the  ang^els  who  should  bear  to  the 
heavenly  land  the  spirits  of  children,  and  with  the 
words,  "  Oh,  that  will  be  joyful,  when  we  meet  to  part 
no  more,"  on  his  lips,  he  fell  asleep  in  Jesus. 

For  a  while  the  life  of  another  of  the  children 
trembled  in  the  balance,  but  his  time  was  not  yet 
come,  and  in  two  or  three  weeks  all  were  recovered. 
The  voyage  was  tedious.  It  was  not  until  the  sixth 
of  June,  nearly  three  months  from  the  date  of  sail- 
ing, that  the  ship  cast  anchor  off  Cowes,  to  await,  in 
the  leisurely  fashion  of  the  time,  further  orders  from 
London.  Mary  Moffat  was  glad  to  set  foot  on  land 
with  the  children,  and  she  was  welcomed  and  enter- 
tained by  the  same  friends  from  whose  house  she 


AN  UNEXPECTED  WELCOME.  223 

had  embarked  twenty  years  before.  Her  husband 
was  in  no  hurry  to  land,  and  remained  on  board  to 
attend  to  the  baggage  and  write  letters. 

The  clergyman  of  the  parish  was  the  first  Chris- 
tian brother  to  welcome  Robert  Moffat  to  his  native 
land.  He  went  on  board  in  the  dark,  hearing  that 
there  was  a  missionary,  and  stayed  an  hour  or  two, 
filling  with  great  joy  and  comfort  the  heart  of  the 
shy  and  diffident  man  who  shrank  from  landing  on 
what  had  come  to  be  like  a  strange  country  to  him. 
The  ship  was  ordered  to  London,  and  in  a  few  days 
with  furled  sails  she  was  being  towed  up  the  Thames 
by  a  steam  tug,  a  new  and  strange  sensation  to  the 
South  African  family,  even  to  Moffat  himself,  for  when 
he  left,  in  1 8 1 8,  steam  navigation  was  in  its  babyhood. 

His  reception  in  London  was  a  surprise  for  which 
he  was  scarcely  prepared.  He  found  himself  at 
once  plunged  into  a  whirlpool  of  public  meetings 
even  before  he  could  get  his  luggage  through  the 
custom-house,  that  bugbear  of  unfortunate  travellers 
so  dear  to  the  official  mind.  It  was  with  the  utmost 
difficulty  that  he  could  get  liberty  to  visit  his  own 
friends. .  Twenty  years  had  made  a  great  difference 
in  the  home  of  Mary  Moffat's  youth.  The  mother 
had  gone  to  her  rest.  Of  three  brothers,  one  had 
died  a  few  months  before  in  Manchester,  another 
was  in  the  United  States,  and  the  third,  John,  was  a 
missionary  in  Madras.  The  father  was  getting  old, 
and  had  been  obliged  by  infirmity  and  by  adverse 
circumstances  to  give  up  the  nursery  at  Dukinfield, 
and  to  retire  to  a  cottage  at  Flixton. 

Great  changes  had  also  come  over  the  circle  at 
Inverkeithing.    A  brother  and  two  sisters  had  pasced 


224  THE  CIRCLE  OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 

away.  The  parents  were,  however,  still  compara- 
tively hale  and  hearty  when  they  welcomed  back 
the  son  from  whom  they  had  parted  with  but  little 
expectation  of  ever  seeing  him  again  ;  whose  career 
they  had  watched  with  growing  satisfaction,  and 
who,  .they  were  willing  to  admit,  had  not  disap- 
pointed their  hopes. 

It  was  also  the  privilege  of  Robert  and  Mary 
Moffat  to  meet  again  many  faithful  friends  who  had 
shown  unwavering  constancy.  Of  these  there  was 
Elizabeth  Lees,  of  Manchester,  who,  with  her  sister 
Mary,  wife  of  Stephen  Sheldon,  never  faltered  or 
failed  to  keep  up  a  friendship  commenced  in  the 
days  of  girlhood.  The  churches  assembling  in 
Grosvenor  Street,  Manchester,  and  in  Albion  Chapel 
at  Ashton-under-Lyne,  still  contained  many  who 
had  known  Mary  Smith,  and  throughout  the  long 
absence  a  constant  and  faithful  correspondence  had 
been  kept  up.  Letters  from  Lattakoo — or,  as  it  is 
now  more  correctly  called,  Kuruman — came  to  be 
treated  as  circular  epistles.  Copies  were  made  and 
sent  round,  and  the  station  received  many  proofs 
of  the  heartfelt  liberality  which  spoke  in  practical 
language,  and  made  many  things  possible  which 
otherwise  would  have  been  left  undone.  Another 
faithful  friend — one  of  that  goodly  company  of  whom 
none  are  now  living — was  Mrs.  Greaves,  of  Sheffield. 
For  many  long  years  she  and  others  likeminded 
had  failed  not  to  encourage  their  missionary  brother 
and  sister  with  sympathetic  prayers  and  kindly  deeds. 
Miss  Lees  lived  to  see  her  friend  on  her  return,  but 
was  already  nearing  the  confines  of  the  other  world, 
and  died  a  few  months  after. 


GREAT  MISSIONARY  INTEREST  EXCITED.    225 

Moffat  was  not  allowed  to  linger  long  among  his 
own  people.  The  popular  demand  for  his  services 
as  a  missionary  deputation  could  not  be  withstood. 
At  that  time  there  was  an  enthusiasm  for  foreign 
missions  such  as  has  scarcely  been  seen  since.  The 
missionary  heart  of  England  had  been  stirred  to  its 
depths  by  the  recent  visits  of  many  good  and  earnest 
workers  in  various  parts  of  the  world  ;  especially  by 
John  Williams,  the  impression  made  by  whose  visit 
was  soon  to  be  deepened  in  so  tragical  a  manner 
by  his  martyrdom  at  Erromanga.  The  Malagasy 
refugees  were  also  in  England,  the  objects  of  wide- 
spread interest.  It  was  thus  ordered  that  Moffat's 
visit  was  well  timed.  The  public  mind  was  keenly 
alive  to  impression,  and  it  was  given  to  him  to 
take  an  instant  hold,  the  effects  of  which  cannot 
be  estimated.  He  was  hurried  from  town  to  town 
with  scant  opportunity  for  a  moment's  rest.  The 
country  was  not  then  covered  with  a  network  of 
railways.  Much  of  the  travelling  had  to  be  done 
by  coach,  and  the  mere  travelling  called  for  more 
than  ordinary  strength  and  endurance.  There  was 
in  all  this,  of  course,  a  sense  of  pleasurable  excite- 
ment and  a  glow  of  sympathy  and  interest  which 
made  labour  and  fatigue  of  no  account ;  but  Moffat's 
heart  was  all  the  time  longing  to  be  at  the  work 
which  had  brought  him  home,  the  printing  of  the 
Sechwana  New  Testament. 

When  he  landed,  his  hope  had  been  to  get  this 
work  speedily  accomplished,  and  then  to  slip  away 
again  to  South  Africa  before  the  winter  ;  but  it  was 
not  until  the  end  of  October  that  he  was  able  even 
to  make  a  beginning,  and  to  get  settled  in.  London 

16 


226         MOFFATS   LITERARY  LABOURS. 

with  his  family.  To  carry  his  own  translation  of 
the  New  Testament  through  the  press  meant  not 
merely  a  correction  of  proof  sheets,  but  further 
revision  of  the  text,  for  he  was  never  satisfied  with 
his  work.  He  was  far  more  conscious  than  any  one 
else  could  be  of  his  deficiencies.  When  he  went 
out  as  a  missionary  he  knew  nothing  of  the  original 
languages.  It  was  only  by  painfully  laborious 
comparison  of  many  authorities,  and  by  collation  of 
the  Dutch  with  the  English  version,  that  he  could 
satisfy  himself  of  having  grasped  the  meaning  of 
the  original ;  and  having  so  grasped  it,  there  was 
still  the  task  of  putting  it  into  Sechwana.  From 
the  officials  and  the  committee  of  the  Bible  Society 
he  had  always  the  kindest  sympathy  and  co-opera- 
tion. Loyal  and  devoted  as  he  ever  was  to  his 
•own  Society,  the  tie  of  affection  to  the  kindred 
institution  was  even  stronger  and  deeper. 

Whilst  carrying  through  the  printing  of  the  New 
Testament,  it  was  suggested  that  the  Psalms  would 
be  a  valuable  addition.  A  few  of  these  had  already 
'been  translated.  With  his  usual  energy  the  work 
was  at  once  taken  in  hand,  and  when  the  New 
Testament  appeared,  the  Book  of  Psalms  was  printed 
and  bound  up  along  with  it. 

By  a  happy  coincidence,  Moffat's  brother-in-law, 
who  had  gone  out  as  a  missionary  to  Madras  a  few 
years  after  his  sister  left  for  South  Africa,  arrived 
in  England.  He  did  not  know  when  he  sailed 
from  India  that  the  Moffats  were  also  on  their  way. 
The  most  he  had  looked  for  was  possibly  to  see 
something  of  them  at  the  Cape,  which  was  then 
4;he  port  of  call.     Between  him  and  his  sister  there 


INTRODUCTION  TO    THE   EISDELLS,      227 

was  a  strong  bond  of  affection.  He  had  been  led 
to  become  a  follower  of  Christ,  and  to  give  himself 
to  missionary  work,  by  her  example  and  influence. 
They  again  met  with  no  ordinary  joy  in  the  blessing 
which  had  been  accorded  to  each  in  their  Master's 
work  in  different  parts  of  the  world. 

The  winter  was  spent  in  London,  as  far  as  possible 
in  the  work  referred  to  already.  This  was  much 
interrupted  by  the  incessant  and  imperious  demands 
of  many  supporters  of  missionary  enterprise.  At 
last  respite  was  gained  in  a  fashion  not  altogether 
to  be  desired.  The  exposure  to  cold  air  returning 
home  late  at  night,  after  speaking  at  densely-packed 
meetings,  brought  on  so  severe  an  illness  as  to  bring 
the  doctors  upon  the  scene.  All  public  speaking 
was  for  the  time  absolutely  forbidden,  and  Moffat 
was  glad  to  utilize  the  leisure  thus  gained.  He  had 
taken  up  his  abode  with  his  family  at  Walworth, 
where  they  attended  the  ministry  of  George  Clayton. 
On  the  first  Sunday  as  they  entered  the  chapel  they 
were  unknown.  The  appearance  of  the  somewhat 
foreign-looking  family  with  a  native  servant  attracted 
the  kindly  interest  of  many,  but  especially  of  the 
Misses  Eisdell,  who  were  ready  for  every  good  work, 
and  who  felt  a  pity  for  these  evident  strangers. 
The  tall  sunburnt  man,  in  anything  but  clerical 
garb,  was  supposed  to  be  the  captain  of  a  ship ! 
Inquiries  were  made,  and  George  Clayton  and  his 
people  were  delighted  to  find  amongst  them  unawares 
the  man  whose  fame  had  already  reached  their  ears. 
This  was  the  commencement  of  a  lifelong  friendship 
with  the  Eisdells,  whose  tender  and  loving  ministra- 
tions never  ceased  till  they  were  called  away  from  a 


228     SUCCESSFUL  ANNIVERSARY  MEETINGS. 

career  of  hallowed  usefulness  which  is  fragrant  in 
the  remembrance  of- hundreds  who  had  the  privilege 
of  being  their  pupils. 

It  was  arranged  that  Moffat  should  preach  a 
sermon  in  connection  with  the  anniversary  services 
of  the  Society  in  May,  1840.  To  get  him,  or  rather 
his  throat,  into  order  for  the  strain  of  public  speaking, 
he  was  sent  down  to  Brighton,  and  taken  in  hand 
by  the  Rev.  J.  N.  Goulty.  With  him  and  with  his 
family  there  sprang  up  another  of  those  devoted 
friendships  with  which  the  lives  of  Robert  and  Mary 
Moffat  were  singularly  enriched  and  brightened.  It 
was  given  to  them  not  only  to  make,  but  to  keep 
friends  even  unto  death. 

The  anniversary  meetings  were  an  overflowing 
success.  The  Tabernacle  in  Moorfields  was  crowded 
by  a  congregation  so  absorbed  that  they  listened  to 
the  close  of  a  discourse  which  took  more  than  two 
hours  in  its  delivery.  At  Exeter  Hall  the  throng 
was  so  great,  that  after  making  his  speech  in  the 
larger  room  Moffat  had  to  go  and  give  it  again  in 
the  smaller  one,  which  was  crammed  with  a  second 
audience. 

In  the  month  of  August  a  daughter  had  been 
added  to  the  family  band.  She  was  born  in  the 
cottage  of  her  grandfather  at  Flixton,  and  was 
named  Jane  Gardiner,  after  her  father's  aunt. 

The  New  Testament  was  ready,  but  the  pressure 
of  public  engagements  had  retarded  the  translation 
of  the  Psalms  ;  and  as  there  was  no  likelihood  of  the 
requisite  leisure  being  obtained  before  the  end  of 
the  year,  all  hope  of  a  speedy  return  to  Africa  was 
gone.     Two  men  had,   however,   been   detailed    to 


MARY  MOFFAT  LONGS    TO  RETURN.      229 

reinforce  the  Bechwana  Mission,  William  Ross  and 
David  Livingstone.  The  former,  though  not  so  well 
known  to  the  world  as  his  distinguished  companion, 
was  a  faithful  and  laborious  missionary,  who  died  at 
the  post  of  duty  after  twenty-three  years'  service  in 
Bechwanaland. 

Mary  Moffat  to  Robert  Hamilton. 

"Sheffield,  November  2^,,  1840. 

"  My  dear  Brother  Hamilton, — It  was  my  intention 
to  write  letters  long  and  many  by  our  dear  brethren  and 
sister  now  going  out  to  join  you,  but  I  have  found  it 
impracticable.  This  grieves  me  the  more  as  I  know  that 
my  dear  Robert  will  be  still  less  able  to  spare  time  to 
do  it.  Since  my  baby  was  born  he  has  never  been  with 
us  except  for  a  few  hours  at  a  time,  and  since  the  8th 
of  October  I  have  not  seen  him,  as  he  is  in  Scotland 
interesting  his  countrymen  with  African  details,  which 
are  everywhere  devoured  with  avidity.  We  congratulate 
you  and  brother  and  sister  Edwards  on  an  accession  to 
your  numbers,  and  we  think  very  highly  of  them.  Of 
Mr.  Ross  we  have  seen  the  most,  and  the  more  we  saw  of 
him  the  better  we  liked  him.  Mr.  Moffat  will  soon  write 
on  the  subject,  and  enable  you  to  judge  of  what  will  be 
best  for  them  to  turn  their  attention  to. 

"  I  am  sure  you  will  greatly  enjoy  the  company  of  the 
two  missionaries,  both  being  Scotchmen  and  plain  in  their 
manners.  I  do  hope  they  will  all  be  a  blessing  to  the  country. 
They  must  of  course  look  to  our  garden  for  their  present 
supplies.  Anything  about  the  premises  they  can  make 
use  of.  You  must  not  from  this  infer  that  we  are  not  to 
return.  No!  if  Moffat  lives  we  shall  return,  but  it  cannot 
be  immediately.  The  Psalms  have  to  be  finished,  the 
Selection  reprinted,  and  perhaps  the  hymns  too,  and 
besides  all  this  the  public  is  determined  to  have  a  book. 
You  will  smile,  and  so  do  I,  for  I  have  felt  opposed  to  it 
till  very  lately,  but  I  see  it  is  of  no  use  to  refuse.  It  must 
be  so.     I  fear  this  will  detain  us  very  long.     Our  present 


230      BECHWANA    MISSION   REINFORCED. 

plan  is  to  leave  this  time  next  year,  but  I  doubt  very  much  ; 
it  will  require  another  winter,  Mr.  Moffat  says  not,  but  I 
fear,  for  he  will  again  be  sent  to  different  parts  of  the 
country  where  he  has  not  yet  been.  I  long  to  get  home. 
I  fear  I  shall  forget  what  I  knew  of  the  language.  I  long 
to  see  the  spot  again  where  we  have  so  long  toiled  and 
suffered,  to  see  our  beloved  companions  in  the  toil  and 
suffering,  and  to  behold  our  swarthy  brethren  and  sisters 
again  ;  and  I  long  for  my  own  home,  for  though  loaded 
with  the  kindness  of  friends,  and  welcome  everywhere,  still 
home  is  homely ! 

"  We  have,  however,  much  that  is  painful  to  anticipate : 
the  parting  with  some  of  our  children,  and  my  aged  father, 
whose  circumstances  are  such  as  require  the  exercise  of 
strong  faith  to  believe  that  he  will  always  be  comfortably 
provided  for  should  he  live  long — he  has  entered  his  seventy- 
eighth  year.  Moffat's  parents  have  also  to  be  left,  our  dear 
brethren  according  to  the  flesh  to  be  parted  with,  and  many 
kind  Christian  friends.  In  fact,  long  as  our  visit  to  England 
is,  it  is  a  state  of  constant  excitement,  bustle,  and  anxiety. 
We  are  seldom  together  as  a  family.  I  should  have  ac- 
companied Mr.  Moffat  in  many  of  his  journeys,  but  the 
Lord  has  given  me  other  work  to  do.  I  have  two  lovely 
little  girls  whom  you  have  never  seen,  and  they  are  sweet 
little  ties.  I  enjoy  good  health :  one  reason  may  be  I  am 
exposed  to  no  hardships  ;  everywhere  well  taken  care  of 
as  a  hothouse  plant,  so  that  I  am  not  exposed  to  the 
inclemency  of  the  seasons. 

"  Thus  far  the  Lord  has  been  gracious  to  us,  and  I  trust 
He  will  continue  so.  My  husband  is  terribly  worked,  but 
keeps  well  thus  far  in  the  season.  How  his  head  stands  it 
I  know  not.  Our  dear  children  are  doing  well  according 
to  their  capacity.  I  have  done  what  I  could  to  persuade 
Livingstone  to  marry,  but  he  seems  to  decline  it." 


Ross  was  married,  but  Livingstone  at  this  time 
had  other  views  on  the  subject,  and  held  them  in 
spite  of  the  motherly  advice  of  Mary  Moffat.     She 


MOFFAT    WRITES  A   BOOK.  231 

had  never  forgotten  what  her  own  Robert  had  gone 
through  as  a  forlorn  bachelor  in  Namaqualand,  and 
her  kind  heart  was  sore  to  see  any  one  with  such  a 
prospect  before  him.  But  the  Disposer  of  events 
had  ordered  it  otherwise.  The  two  missionaries 
sailed  for  the  Cape  in  the  course  of  the  year  1840, 
and  it  was  a  great  joy  to  Moffat  to  be  able  to  send 
with  them  an  instalment  of  good  things,  consisting 
of  five  hundred  copies  of  the  complete  New  Testa- 
ment in  the  Sechwana  language.  A  few  months 
later  he  had  the  still  greater  joy  of  sending  out  five 
times  that  number  of  Testaments,  with  which  were 
bound  up  the  Psalms.  These  he  had  translated  in 
the  intervals  of  the  distraction  and  excitement  of 
public  work,  to  which  he  was  called  in  almost  every 
town  in  the  kingdom.  Scarcely  were  the  Psalms 
out  of  his  hands  when  he  undertook  a  revision  of 
the  Scripture  Lessons,  a  selection  from  the  Old  and 
New  Testaments,  suited  to  the  circumstances  of  the 
Bechwana  churches.  By  the  liberal  aid  of  members 
of  the  Society  of  Friends  an  edition  of  six  thousand 
of  these  was  carried  through  the  press.  Nothing 
but  herculean  strength  and  indomitable  will  could 
have  enabled  him  to  go  through  with  these  manifold 
labours.  Towards  the  end  of  the  year  1841,  he 
managed  to  seclude  himself  for  a  time  from  public 
engagements,  and  to  devote  himself  to  the  prepara- 
tion of  his  book,  the  well-known  "  Labours  and 
Scenes  in  South  Africa."  The  work  was  published 
in  the  spring  of  1842,  and  was  a  great  success. 
Scarcely  had  the  last  proof  sheets  left  his  hands, 
when  he  was  called  upon  to  meet  the  imperious 
demands  of  the  churches.      He  never  could  say  no 


232    HIS    WIFE'S  ANXIETIES   ABOUT  HIM. 

to  any  call  to  what  seemed  to  him  like  an  op- 
portunity of  serving  the  missionary  cause  ;  and  for 
some  months  he  was  almost  swept  away  with  a 
torrent  of  engagements,  which  scarcely  gave  him  a 
moment's  breathing  time  day  or  night.  It  was  a 
time  of  great  anxiety  to  his  faithful  partner,  who, 
naturally  anxious  in  disposition,  viewed  with  fear, 
almost  with  resentment,  the  demands  that  were 
made  on  her  husband's  powers  both  of  mind  and 
body.  Writing  to  his  parents  in  May,  1842,  she 
says  : 

"  We  have  great  reason  to  be  thankful  for  the  completion 
of  the  book,  for  many  a  time  have  I  trembled  lest  he 
should  become  poorly  before  it  was  finished,  and  have  to 
lay  it  aside  and  disappoint  the  public.  He  has  found  it  an 
arduous  task.  I  always  dreaded  it,  and  often  wished  he 
would  not  do  it,  but  had  I  known  how  formidable  a  work 
it  would  be  I  should  have  felt  more  opposed  to  it.  I  can 
assure  you  his  head  is  thoroughly  tired,  and  he  ought  to 
have  at  least  a  fortnight's  relaxation  ;  but  this  was  out  of 
the  question.  He  has  had  some  engagements,  for  the 
middle  and  latter  end  of  this  month,  standing  over  for  six 
months,  and  these  he  could  not  break ;  and  not  being  able 
to  finish  so  soon  as  he  had  hoped,  he  has  consequently  been 
sadly  hurried.  He  was  some  days  in  Buckinghamshire  last 
week  ;  and  yesterday  morning,  after  sitting  up  till  two  o'clock 
to  correct,  he  had  to  depart  at  seven  for  Cambridgeshire,  there 
to  labour  very  hard  indeed,  as  the  printed  bills  testify.  I 
am  anxious  to  hear  how  he  gets  on,  for  he  was  quite  unfit ; 
he  said  he  was  so  fatigued  that  his  head  felt  empty.  If  all 
be  well  I  expect  him  here  to-morrow  evening,  when,  if 
possible,  I  ho|)e  we  shall  go  down  to  Brighton  for  two  days 
at  least;  as,  by  what  I  consider  a  merciful  providence,  some 
mistake  has  occurred,  so  as  to  leave  next  Sabbath  vacant — 
although  Mr.  Arundel  is  at  his  wit's  end  to  answer  the 
numerous  demands  for  his  services.     A  day  or  two  there 


LETTER  TO  MRS.  JACOB    UN  WIN.        233 

at  his  leisure,  enjoying  the  fine  air  and  the  good  society  of 
Mr.  Goulty's  family,  will  do  him  great  good." 

Although  living  a  life  of  almost  insupportable 
distraction,  racked  with  constant  care  about  her 
husband,  looking  forward  to  her  parting  with  dear 
friends  and  with  some  of  her  children,  Mary  Moffat 
still  found  time  to  indulge  in  those  friendships 
which  so  briohtened  and  widened  her  life,  and 
gave  flow  to  her  far-reaching  sympathies.  The 
following  letter  was  addressed  to  the  wife  of  Mr. 
Jacob  Unwin,  of  London— then,  as  may  be  gathered, 
a  great  sufferer,  but  soon  to  enter  into  rest.  She 
and  her  husband  had  greatly  endeared  themselves 
by  their  kindly  interest  in  the  children — an  interest 
which  was  continued  by  him,  and  led  to  important 
consequences  to  more  than  one  member  of  the 
family  : 


"At  my  Father's  House,  near  Manchester. 

"  iVov.  26,  1842. 

"  My  very  dear  Friend, — Though  I  can  hardly  per- 
suade myself  that  you  are  still  an  inhabitant  of  this  lower 
world,  I  cannot  resist  the  strong  inclination  I  have  to 
address  you  ;  and  though  I  seem  to  stand  on  holy  ground 
while  thus  attempting  to  address  one  who  is  on  the  con- 
fines of  the  heavenly  world  and  calmly  closing  her  eyes 
on  terrestrial  things,  having  to-day  (for  the  first  time  foi 
many  weeks)  a  little  leisure,  my  thoughts  will  rest  upon 
you,  and  impel  me  to  make  an  effort  to  express  to  you  the 
sympathy  we  have  had  with  you  and  your  beloved  husband 
in  the  extremely  afflicting  circumstances  in  which  you  have 
been  placed  for  some  time  past.  Our  friends  at  Walworth 
having  kindly  communicated  with  me  from  time  to  time, 
although  we  have  been  under  perpetual  excitement  and 
fatigue,  our  minds  have  hovered  over  the  trying  scene,  and 


234  GRATITUDE   FOR   KINDNESS, 

when  we  could  do  no  more,  we  have  breathed  a  prayer  for 
you  and  yours. 

"  Oh,  my  friends,  you  are  indeed  enduring  chasteningr, 
and  doubt  not  it  is  as  seeing  Him  who  is  invisible.  He 
has  before  caused  you  to  pass  through  the  fire  without 
being  burned,  and  will  also  be  with  you  when  you  pass 
through  the  floods,  that  they  do  not  overflow  you.  Your 
graces  of  faith  and  patience  are  now  severely  proved  ;  but 
when  He. has  tried  you,  you  shall  come  forth  as  gold,  and 
shall  shine  for  ever  and  ever  to  the  glory  of  His  name. 

"  It  is  with  reluctance  that  I  introduce  to  your  notice  my 
own  affairs  at  a  time  when  you  must  have  almost  ceased 
to  think  of  friends  so  distant  as  we  ;  but  it  would  be  cold 
of  me  while  I  am  troubling  you  with  these  lines  not  to 
notice  your  labour  of  love  towards  our  dear  boy  and  our- 
selves, the  kind  and  maternal  interest  you  took  in  his 
being  comfortably  fixed,  to  fit  himself  for  the  arduous  work 
in  which  he  is  anxious  to  be  engaged,  and  your  personal 
endeavours  to  further  the  object  we  have  in  view.  All 
these  have  made  an  impression  on  our  minds  never  to  be 
erased,  and  we  desire  to  express  our  gratitude  for  all  that 
you  accomplished  and  for  all  that  you  intended — for  it  was 
evident  to  me  that  it  was  your  intention  to  be  as  a  mother  to 
him  when  his  own  was  far  removed.  In  this  I  had  the  fullest 
confidence,  and  must  therefore  consider  that  we  also  arc 
losers  by  your  removal  from  this  world.  Our  prayer  is 
that  your  own  dear  children  may  experience  the  Divine 
favour  and  love  all  their  lives  long,  and  at  last  unite  with 
yourself  and  their  beloved  father  in  singing  the  praises  of 
that  dear  Saviour  who  shed  His  blood  for  them.  Oh  !  my 
dear  friend,  I  feel  very  solemn  while  thus  taking  my  fare- 
well. These  I  am  taking  every  day,  till  they  become  a 
common  sound.  I  have  within  the  last  few  weeks  bid  fare- 
well to  many  aged  persons  who  are  very  dear  to  me,  and 
on  Monday  must  do  so  to  my  honoured  father,  now  sitting 
beside  me.  He  is  in  his  eightieth  year,  but  his  mind  is  as 
vigorous  as  ever.  I  think  he  will  bear  separation  well, 
though  with  all  the  feeling  I  could  desire. 

"  Adieu,  then,  my  esteemed  friend.     Methinks  I  see  you 


CONSOLATION  FOR   A    DYING   BED.      235 

in  the  dark  valley  ;  but  His  rod  and  staff  comforts  you,  and 
though  heart  and  flesh  fail,  He  will  be  with  you.  Methinks 
I  see  you  panting  to  be  gone,  cheerfully  surrendering  all 
the  loved  ones  about  your  dying  bed,  till  that  day  when 
you  shall  again  meet  them  in  that  world  where  there  is 
no  more  such  agonizing  pain  as  you  have  been  called  to 
endure.  The  ways  of  God  are  ofttimes  inscrutable,  but 
what  we  know  not  now,  we  shall  know  hereafter." 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

THE  MOFFATS  RETURN   TO   SOUTH  AFRICA. 
1842,  1843. 

IN  November,  1842,  commenced  a  series  of  vale- 
dictory services,  which  in  their  extent,  and  in 
the  deep  feehng  shared  by  those  who  attended 
them,  gave  a  striking  proof  of  the  manner  in  which 
Moffat  had  been  privileged  to  rouse  in  the  hearts 
of  many  thousands  in  England  and  Scotland  not 
only  a  strong  personal  regard  for  himself,  but  a 
deeper  missionary  interest  and  purpose.  A  few 
citations  from  a  little  book  published  at  the  time  by 
the  late  Dr.  John  Campbell,  of  London,  will  serve 
to  illustrate  this  : 

"  On  the  evening  of  Thursday,  November  3,  1842,  a 
meeting  was  held  in  the  Waterloo  Rooms,  Edinburgh,  for 
the  purpose  of  presenting  a  copy  of  the  '  Encyclopaedia 
Britannica'  to  the  Rev,  R.  Moffat,  as  an  expression  of 
affectionate  regard  from  some  of  his  friends  of  different 
Christian  denominations  in  Edinburgh  and  its  neighbour- 
hood. The  large  room  was  filled  in  every  part,  and  the 
platform  was  occupied  by  ministers  and  friends  of  almost 
every  Evangelical  body.  The  Rev.  W.  Lindsay  Alexander, 
M.A.,  occupied  the  chair." 


VALEDICTORY   SERVICES.  237 

Addresses  were  delivered  by  the  Rev.  Henry 
Grey,  by  the  chairman,  and  by  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Brown,  of  Broughton  Place  Church.  The  chair- 
man, in  presenting  the  volumes,  gave  a  brief  but 
happy  address.  He  too,  with  many  others  who 
took  a  part  in  that  meeting,  has  gone  to  join  Moffat 
amid  the  glories  of  the  heavenly  state.  The  fol- 
lowing are  a  few  of  his  words  : 

"  Your  visit  to  us  we  never  can  forget.  Our  little  chil- 
dren are  already,  in  their  infantine  chronology,  beginning 
to  date  from  the  time  'when  Mr.  Moffat  spoke  to  them  ; ' 
and  beheve  me,  to  many  of  us  of  riper  years  the  time  when 
you  spoke  to  us  will  be  as  a  sunny  spot  on  the  dusty  and 
troubled  road  along  which  we  have  to  journey.  We  feel 
ourselves  your  debtors.  We  have  reaped  a  real  and  a  pure 
pleasure  from  the  pictures  you  have  given  us  of  missionary 
life — your  romantic  adventures,  your  hairbreadth  escapes, 
your  bold  exertions,  your  surprising  successes.  You  have 
opened  before  us  a  new  page  of  human  society  and  cha- 
racter, and  have  confirmed  our  attachment  to  the  mission- 
ary cause  by  showing  that  there  is  no  tribe  too  degraded 
for  the  gospel  to  elevate,  no  heart  too  polluted  for  Chris- 
tianity to  purify.  Your  debtors  we  are,  and  it  is  but  an 
imperfect  expression  of  our  sense  of  obligation  which  we 
convey  to  you  by  this  present.  Nor  are  our  feelings  of 
affection  unmixed  with  an  emotion  of  sadness,  as  we  reflect 
that  after  a  short  space  we  shall  in  all  human  probability 
behold  your  face  no  more  in  the  flesh.  But  we  would  not 
detain  you  if  we  might." 

From  Edinburgh  he  passed  on  to  Newcastle, 
where  his  friend  John  Collingwood  Bruce,  with  other 
gentlemen,  were  waiting  to  present  him  with  a  set 
of  scientific  instruments,  which  were  to  be  used  in 
introducing  to  the  minds  of  the  natives  of  South 
Africa  some  little  insight  into  wonders  still  greater 


238  LAST  FAREWELLS. 

than  those  with  which  civih'zation  had  made  them 
in  a  measure  familiar. 

In  Manchester  was  held  a  series  of  meetings 
which  left  an  impression  never  to  be  forgotten  by 
those  who  took  a  part  in  them.  The  interest  was 
much  increased  by  the  circumstance  that  Joseph 
Gill  and  William  Ashton  were  going  out  as  mission- 
aries with  Moffat — the  latter,  as  it  proved,  to  be 
closely  associated  with  him  for  many  years,  and  now 
the  only  one  of  that  generation  still  remaining  in  the 
Bechwana  field. 

Two  or  three  similar  services  were  held  in  Lon- 
don. On  the  twenty-third  of  January,  Moffat  and  his 
company  took  their  leave  of  the  Directors.  Among 
the  many  who  attended  on  that  occasion,  the  fol- 
lowing names  remind  us  forcibly  of  the  ceaseless 
course  of  time.  The  chairman  was  T.  M.  Coombs. 
Other  directors  were  Thomas  Lewis,  James  Row- 
land, John  Foulger,  Thomas  Binney,  John  Morison, 
Thomas  Piper,  John  Yockney,  Alexander  Fletcher, 
H.  F.  Burder,  Joshua  Wilson,  John  Burnet,  Henry 
Townley,  Ebenezer  Henderson,  with  the  secre- 
taries Arundel  and  Tidman. 

A  week  after,  the  missionary  party  embarked  at 
London  Bridge,  with  a  great  concourse  of  friends, 
on  board  a  steamer  which  was  to  carry  them  to  the 
ship  at  Gravesend.  There  all  the  partings  of  some 
weeks  past  culminated  in  a  final  farewell,  one  more 
tearful  service  was  held  on  the  deck  of  the  steamer, 
the  Moffats  and  their  companions  bid  adieu  to 
friends  and  kindred,  and  the  missionary  party  had 
set  its  face  towards  Africa. 

Though  the  embarkation  of  the  passengers  took 


THE    VOYAGE   OUT,  239 

place  at  Gravesend  on  the  thirtieth  of  January,  the 
ship  was  still  wind-bound  in  the  Downs  on  the 
fourth  of  the  following  month,  by  which  time  some- 
thing like  a  hundred  sail  had  assembled  at  the  same 
anchorage.  That  morning  the  wind  changed  round 
to  the  north,  and  in  a  heavy  snowstorm  all  got 
under  weigh  and  stood  down  the  Channel.  The 
crowd  of  outward-bound  ships  spread  away  each  on 
her  own  course,  the  white  cliffs  receded  from  view, 
and  next  day  the  company  on  board  the  Fortitude 
found  themselves  alone  on  the  wide,  rolling  sea. 

The  voyage  was  much  what  might  have  been 
expected,  though  with  a  larger  share  than  usual  of 
bad  weather ;  but  the  ship  was  stout  and  well 
manned.  The  captain  was  an  old  and  godfearing 
man,  from  whom  the  missionaries  enjoyed  every 
facility  for  the  observance  of  the  Lord's  day  and  for 
public  services,  as  was  befitting  so  large  a  proportion 
of  missionary  passengers.  All  were  safely  landed 
in  Cape  Town  on  the  tenth  of  April,  the  passage 
being  considered  an  average  one. 

As  there  was  an  opportunity  by  steamer  to  Port 
Elizabeth,  it  was  deemed  best  that  Ashton  and 
Inglis  with  their  wives  should  go,  and  await  the 
advance  of  the  rest  at  Bethelsdorp,  a  village  a  few 
miles  from  Port  Elizabeth.  It  was  not  till  the 
twenty-fourth  of  May  that  the  Moffats  were  able  to 
follow  them  ;  embarking  in  a  little  coasting  schooner 
for  Algoa  Bay,  where  they  arrived  after  a  tem- 
pestuous passage  of  ten  days.  Little  could  Mary 
Moffat  have  imagined  that  only  a  week  before  this, 
her  beloved  brother  John  Smith — whom  she  had  the 
joy  of  meeting  in   England,  and   who  had  returned 


240  DEATH    OF  MARY  MOFFATS    BROTHER. 

to  his  work  at  Madras — had  found  a  watery  grave,  a 
vessel  in  which  he  was  making  a  short  voyage  along 
the  coast  having  foundered  in  the  Bay  of  Bengal 
on  the  twentieth  or  twenty-first  of  May.  Nothing 
was  ever  known  of  the  exact  circumstances.  He 
had  gone  to  Vizagapatam  to  attend  a  missionary 
ordination,  and  had  started  on  his  return  journey  to 
Madras  by  land,  but  was  taken  ill  and  constrained 
to  return.  In  his  anxiety  to  get  back  to  his  work 
he  took  a  passage  in  a  small  vessel,  not  very  sea- 
worthy at  any  time,  and  too  deeply  loaded.  The 
day  after  she  had  sailed,  a  storm  of  unusual  violence 
swept  the  coast.  Many  ships  were  lost,  while  others 
were  dismasted  or  driven  far  out  of  their  course  ; 
but  of  the  Favourite  not  a  vestige  was  ever  found, 
or  a  ray  of  light  thrown  upon  her  fate  or  on  that  of 
her  passenger. 

He  was  ready  to  go.  He  was  a  man  of  ardent 
and  exalted  piety,  beloved  of  many  for  his  work's 
sake.  His  widow — who  still  lives — then  In  England 
for  the  recovery  of  her  health,  was  many  months 
before  she  could  bring  herself  to  accept  the  truth,  so 
tragical  In  the  uncertainty  which  surrounded  It, 

The  Moffats  now  rejoined  their  companions  at 
Bethelsdorp,  but  hindrances,  so  familiar  to  travellers 
In  Africa,  taxed  even  their  well-trained  patience. 
All  the  heavy  baggage  of  the  large  missionary 
party,  with  an  Immense  amount  of  public  property, 
including  a  supply  of  Sechwana  books,  had  been 
shipped  In  a  slow-sailing  vessel,  whose  appearance 
was  looked  for  in  vain  for  months.  Seeing  no 
chance  of  a  forward  movement  for  some  time, 
Robert  Mofifat  found  vent  for  his  restless  energy  In 


THE   REV.  JOHN   BROWN  LEE.  241 

a  journey  on  horseback  to  Kaffraria.  He  attended 
a  meeting  of  ministers  and  missionaries  on  the  way 
at  Grahamstown,  and  then  visited  all  the  eastern 
stations  of  the  London  Missionary  Society.  He 
was  glad  to  meet  his  old  and  valued  friend  John 
Brownlee,  in  whose  company  he  had  first  sailed  for 
Africa,  and  with  whom  he  had  kept  up  a  steady 
intercourse  by  correspondence.  It  is  much  to  be 
regretted  that,  owing  to  the  destruction  of  Brownlee's 
papers  in  successive  Kafir  wars,  none  of  Moffat's 
letters  to  him  are  obtainable.  They  were  men  of 
strong  sympathy  with  each  other,  and  Brownlee  was 
amongst  the  natives  of  Kafirland  very  much  what 
Moffat  was  in  the  interior  of  South  Africa. 

The  following  notice  is  from  the  pen  of  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Dugmore,  and  appeared  in  the  "Cape  Monthly 
Magazine"  for  September,  1876  : 

"  The  venerable  John  Brownlee  has  gone  to  his  rest ;  but 
it  will  be  long  ere  he  is  forgotten  in  King  William's  Town, 
where  nearly  the  whole  of  his  long  missionary  life  was 
spent.  I  have  his  figure  before  me,  almost  gigantic  in 
height,  but  losing  an  inch  or  two  in  his  latter  years  as  age 
bowed  his  herculean  frame,  with  breadth  of  chest  and 
shoulders  proportionate,  and  an  arm  and  hand,  the  sinewy 
power  of  which  it  would  be  dangerous  for  most  men  to  test 
if  occasion  had  ever  called  it  forth.  Grave  in  deportment, 
as  became  a  Scotch  minister,  yet  hiding  under  his  gravity 
a  vast  amount  of  blended  information  and  intelligence. 
With  the  one  drawback  of  his  indistinct  utterance,  it  was  a 
treat  to  converse  with  him.  When  past  personal  travel,  he 
showed  himself  abreast  of  the  times  on  almost  all  subjects — 
political,  literary,  scientific,  religious.  Some  branches  of 
science,  such  as  theology  and  botany,  he  had  studied  con 
auiore.  On  great  social  question.^  he  seemed  quite  at  home. 
But  his   favourite  theme   was  the  relation   of  the  world's 

17 


242    NARROW  ESCAPE   OF   THE   BAGGAGE, 

progress  to  Christianity.  On  this  I  had  the  pleasure  of 
hearing  him  dilate,  with  an  amount  of  information  and  a 
degree  of  animation  that  surprised  and  deh'ghted  me,  only 
a  few  weeks  before  the  fatal  stroke  of  paralysis  which  was 
the  beginning  of  the  end  of  his  long  and  honourable 
career.  I  felt  as  though  I  had  lost  a  father  when  I  heard 
he  was  gone." 

When  at  last  the  long-looked-for  ship  was  heard 
of,  it  was  from  Table  Bay,  where  she  had  put  in  to 
discharge  some  cargo  and  to  receive  some  more  for 
the  coast  ports  :  and  when  in  a  calm  and  leisurely 
manner  the  Agrippina  glided  into  Algoa  Bay  and 
cast  anchor,  that  was  by  no  means  the  end  of  the 
trial  of  patience.  Except  in  perfectly  fine  weather, 
a  heavy  surf  rolled  in  on  the  beach  of  what  was  an 
almost  open  roadstead.  Days  sometimes  elapsed 
when  no  landing  was  effected,  and  Moffat's  heart 
sank  within  him  at  the  loss  of  precious  time  ;  most 
•of  all  when  one  night  in  a  gale  four  ships  parted 
their  anchor  and  came  ashore,  and  were  utterly 
wrecked  with  some  considerable  loss  of  life.  He 
paced  the  beach  that  night,  his  soul  harrowed  by 
scenes  of  death  and  destruction,  longing  for  the  day, 
to  see  whether  the  Agrippina  still  held  to  her 
moorings  :  and  he  was  thankful  to  find  that,  if  slow, 
•she  was  at  least  sure. 

At  last  the  start  was  made,  and  the  old  familiar 
^cene  presented  itself:  the  long  train  of  ox  waggons, 
winding  over  hill  and  down  dale,  sticking  fast  in 
muddy  fords,  and  making  fifteen  or  twenty  miles  a 
day.  The  labour  had  been  immense  of  getting 
-everything  away,  but  it  was  going  home  and  going 
back  to  a  well-loved  work.     At  Graaff  Reinett  the 


CROSSING  ORANGE  AND  VAAL  RIVERS.    243 

missionary  band  was  welcomed  and  cheered  on  its 
way  by  the  venerable  and  apostolic  Murrays. 
husband  and  wife  likeminded,  who  have  always 
given  a  warm  and  practical  support  to  missionary 
undertakings,  and  have  been  the  means  of  establish- 
ing the  missionary  spirit  in  their  own  church  in  South 
Africa. 

Moffat  and  his  companions  crossed  the  Orange 
River  on  a  pont  or  floating  bridge,  the  first  of  its 
kind  that  had  regularly  plied  ;  though,  as  will  be 
remembered,  Mary  Moffat  had  some  years  earlier 
been  floated  across  the  same  river,  and  probably  at 
the  same  spot,  on  an  extemporized  raft.  It  would 
then  have  been  considered  a  wild  and  fantastic 
dream  if  a  vision  could  have  been  presented  of  the 
splendid  iron  bridge  which  now  spans  the  river, 
and  is  in  actual  railway  communication  not  only 
with  Port  Elizabeth,  but  with  Cape  Town,  Men 
can  now  travel  in  ease  and  comfort  in  fewer  hours, 
what  it  would  then  have  taken  days  of  toilsome 
journeying  to  accomplish. 

Another  large  stream,  the  Vaal  River,  had  to  be 
crossed,  but  this  proved  to  be  fordable.  As  the 
travellers  drew  near  to  it,  they  were  delighted  to 
meet  David  Livingstone.  He  had  ridden  from 
Kuruman,  a  distance  of  a  hundred  and  fifty  miles, 
to  bid  them  welcome,  and  to  tell  them  of  the  ample 
preparations  that  had  been  made  for  hastening  them 
upon  their  way.  From  this  point  onwards  they 
were  met  day  by  day  by  joyous  friends,  always 
bringing  fresh  teams  of  oxen.  Their  brother 
missionaries  and  the  natives  showed  the  like  ardour 
and    emulation,   until,  as    the    party    drew    near   to 


244  ENTHUSIASTIC  RECEPTION  AT  KURUMAN 

Kuruman,  it  seemed  like  a  royal  progress.  As  the 
last  stage  was  reached,  it  was  felt  by  all  that  they 
could  not  stop.  The  long  cavalcade  hurried  on, 
until  between  two  and  three  o'clock,  just  before  the 
dawn,  on  the  tenth  of  December,  the  Moffats  found 
themselves  once  more  in  their  own  much-desired 
home,  the  scene  of  so  many  blessed  labours  in  past 
years,  and  still  to  be  the  scene  of  many  more  in  the 
years  to  come.  Crowds  were  there  to  meet  them 
even  at  that  hour,  and  next  day,  and  for  many  days 
after,  people  were  coming  from  long  distances  round 
to  look  once  more  on  the  faces  of  those  whom  they 
were  beginning  to  fear  they  should  never  see  again. 
It  was  a  wonderful  change,  which  some  at  least 
could  understand,  and  it  showed  that  the  work  of  the 
Lord  had  struck  its  roots  deep  into  the  heart  of  the 
people. 

Writing  to  the  Directors  in  February,  1844, 
Moffat  says  : 

"  I  assure  you  it  is  with  emotions  of  a  very  peculiar 
description  that  I  take  the  pen  for  the  first  time  to  address 
you  on  the  return  of  myself  and  family  to  the  scene  of  our 
labours,  after  an  absence  of  more  than  five  years.  I  cannot 
help  reviewing  the  past,  and  the  multitude  of  events  which 
have  transpired  since  the  day  we  bade  farewell  to  the 
brethren  and  the  church  here,  and  the  unforeseen  provi- 
dence which  guided  our  steps  into  an  unthought-of  course, 
conducting  us  through  scenes  the  mind  had  never  contem- 
plated, introducing  us  to  the  society  and  communion  of 
the  excellent  of  the  earth  in  our  own  native  isle,  preserving 
our  health  amidst  many  labours,  and  crowning  us  with 
lovingkindness  and  tender  mercies,  bringing  us  back  again 
to  the  people  of  our  charge,  from  whom  we  received  a 
universal  and  joyous  welcome. 

"  I  am  again  seated  where  I  was  wont  to  sit  when  writing 


BY  MISSIONARIES   AND   PEOPLE.        245 

to  the  Directors  in  bygone  years,  and  where  I  spent  so 
many  days  and  months  with  the  most  intense  anxiety  in 
the  translation  of  the  Word  of  Divine  Truth  into  the 
Sechwana  language.  The  well-known  sound  of  the  church- 
going  bell  in  the  Kuruman  vale  again  salutes  the  ear.  The 
substantial  chapel  and  the  mission-houses,  and  the  tall 
Babylonian  willows  waving  in  the  breeze,  the  swallows 
skimming  aloft,  having  returned  from  the  warm  tropics, 
the  buzz  of  a  hundred  infant-school  children  at  this  mo- 
ment pouring  out  for  a  minute's  play,  some  chanting  over 
again  what  they  have  just  been  singing,  others  romping 
and  running  about  on  the  greensward — are  sights  and 
sounds  pleasant  and  melodious  to  eye  and  ear.  .  .  . 

"  When  we  reached  Philippolis  we  were  kindly  received 
by  Mrs.  Wright  and  Mr.  Thompson.  We  had  not  pro- 
ceeded much  farther  when  we  were  met  by  Mr.  Livingstone 
on  horseback.  Mr.  Edwards  had  accompanied  him  half 
way,  but  not  being  able  to  procure  a  horse  had  returned. 
Such  a  visitant  as  Mr.  Livingstone  in  the  wide  wilderness 
was  to  us  a  most  refreshing  circumstance.  Few  can  con- 
ceive of  the  hallowed  feeling  his  presence  produced,  direcr 
from  the  station  and  people  to  whom  all  our  fondest  affec- 
tions were  bending.  We  were  looking  forward  hourly  with 
longing  expectation  of  some  one  to  tell  us  how  it  fared 
with  the  mission,  to  which  Mrs.  Moffat  and  myself  felt  more 
tenderly  attached  than  ever.  The  deeply  interesting  con- 
versations we  had  on  the  affairs  of  the  Bechwana  Mission 
cheered  us  on  our  journey  through  the  desert.  To  our 
great  joy,  on  reaching  the  banks  of  the  Vaal  River  we 
found  it  fordable.  Here  we  spent  a  delightful  Sabbath, 
opportunities  having  been  afforded  to  address  a  goodly 
number  of  Bechwanas  from  a  neighbouring  village.  A 
seasonable  supply  of  oxen,  sent  by  Mr.  Bartlett  and  Cap- 
tain Kok,  of  Campbell,  enabled  us  to  get  all  safely  and 
expeditiously  through  the  river.  On  the  nth  of  De- 
cember we  were  met  by  many  of  our  people  from  the 
station  and  an  abundant  supply  of  fresh  oxen,  and  on  the 
13th  we  were  once  more  seated  in  our  own  dweUing  at  the 
Kuruman. 


246  INFLUX   OF    VISITORS. 

"  Our  souls  were  overwhelmed  with  all  the  chanf^ing 
scenes  through  which  we  had  passed.  We  had  been  the 
recipients  of  innumerable  favours  and  mercies  poured  out 
on  us  from  the  Divine  hand.  Thus  laden  with  benefits,  all 
unworthy  as  we  were,  still  one  thing  lacked.  It  was  once 
more  to  be  with  the  people  who  had  been  for  many  long 
years  the  objects  of  our  most  anxious  solicitude,  again  to 
gaze  on  their  well-known  faces,  and  to  mingle  with  them 
once  more  in  their  solemn  feasts,  and  to  tell  them  again 
the  tale  of  Divine  love.  This  also  has  been  abundantly 
realized. 

"  For  many  successive  weeks  the  station  continued  to  be 
a  scene  of  bustle  from  the  influx  of  strangers  and  believers 
from  the  different  out-stations,  so  that  we  felt  somewhat  as 
we  had  done  among  the  exciting  scenes  we  had  witnessed 
in  England.  Among  our  visitors  were  every  branch  of  the 
Batlaping  ruling  family,  and  several  subordinate  chiefs. 
Mothibi  came,  stooping  with  age,  with  his  wife,  on  whose 
brow  the  shades  of  life's  evening  were  spreading.  Mothibi 
had  visited  us  prior  to  our  departure  for  England,  and  had 
again  been  to  Kuruman  in  our  absence,  when  he  was 
baptized  ;  but  for  a  period  of  sixteen  years  Mahuto,  his 
wife,  had  never  been.  After  the  death  of  Peclo,  her  first- 
born and  the  promising  heir  of  the  chieftainship,  her  mind, 
in  accordance  with  the  habits  of  the  natives,  revolted  at 
the  idea  of  living  at  a  place  where  the  object  of  her  fondest 
hopes  had  been  suddenly  consigned  to  a  premature  grave. 
This,  with  a  succession  of  afflictions  and  losses  caused  by 
the  devastating  inroads  of  the  western  marauders,  had  in- 
scribed 'Marah'  on  everything  connected  with  the  Kuruman 
River.  It  was  therefore  to  us  a  deeply  affecting  scene  to 
witness  this  aged  couple  alight  from  their  waggon,  and 
with  their  sons  and  daughters  enter  our  house  and  testify, 
with  a  kind  of  ecstasy  of  feeling,  their  thanks  to  God  for 
having  brought  us  back  and  permitted  us  to  see  each  other 
in  the  flesh. 

"  My  venerated  and  valued  brother  Hamilton,  though 
far  from  being  what  he  once  was  in  physical  strength, 
which  has  greatly  diminished  since  we  left  in  1838,  is,  with 


EDWARDS  AND  LIVINGSTONE.  247 

delight  renewed  by  our  return,  devoting  with  unabated 
fervour  his  remaining  energies  to  the  blessed  cause  in 
which  he  has  been  so  long  and  so  successfully  engaged. 
Mr.  Ashton  has  taken  the  charge  of  the  day  school,  and 
Mary,  our  eldest  daughter,  that  of  the  infant  school." 

The  mission  being  now  largely  reinforced,  it  was 
arranged  that  the  Rosses  should  go  to  Taung,  about 
a  hundred  miles  due  east  of  Kuruman,  where  Ma- 
hura,  a  brother  of  Mothibi,  had  settled  with  a  part 
of  the  tribe.  Edwards  and  Livingstone  were  to 
commence  work  among  the  Bakhatla,  another  Bech- 
wana  tribe  two  hundred  miles  to  the  north-east 
Inglis  was  to  go  to  the  same  neighbourhood,  and 
Ashton  was  to  remain  at  Kuruman. 

Edwards  and  Livingstone  settled  down  in  the 
valley  of  Mabotsa.  A  large  native  town  stretched 
along  under  a  range  of  hills ;  but,  with  the  exception 
of  such  land  as  had  been  cleared  for  cultivation,  the 
primeval  forest  filled  the  neighbouring  glens,  and 
these  were  the  haunts  of  lions,  which  had  hitherto 
had  it  all  their  own  way,  from  the  absence  of  guns 
among  the  natives.  The  missionaries  found  them- 
selves exposed  to  nightly  attacks,  which  worried  and 
harassed  their  cattle  and  deprived  them  of  rest. 
One  day,  after  an  unusually  bold  and  destructive 
attack  on  an  outpost,  a  hunt  was  called.  Living- 
stone joined  the  party,  and,  as  is  well  known  from 
his  own  graphic  story,  got  left  in  the  lurch,  and 
found  himself  literally  in  the  jaws  of  the  furious 
beast  ;  and  was  only  rescued  with  a  broken  and 
mangled  arm  by  the  devotion  of  his  servant  Me- 
balwe,  who  himself  got  severely  bitten. 

Whilst  recovering  his  strength,   and  waiting  for 


248  MOFFATS  DAUGHTER  GOES  TO  MABOTSA. 

the  healing  of  his  arm,  Livingstone  visited  the 
Kuruman.  Recent  events  seem  to  have  altered  his 
views  on  matrimony  :  at  all  events  he  won  the  heart 
of  Mary,  the  eldest  daughter  of  the  house,  and  in 
due  time  they  were  married.  This  circumstance 
drew  closer  the  tie  which  already  held  him  to  Moffat. 
They  were  men  of  congenial  spirit,  and  through 
many  long  years  they  kept  an  unshaken  friendship 
far  closer  than  the  ordinary  fellow-feeling  of  brother 
missionaries.  Livingstone  returned  to  Mabotsa,  but 
only  to  make  preparations  for  removal  to  Chonwane, 
to  take  up  his  abode  with  Sechele,  chief  of  the 
Bakwena.  The  Edwardses  were  absent  in  the 
Colony,  and  whilst  Livingstone  went  to  build  a 
house  at  Chonwane  his  wife  would  find  herself 
lonely.  In  view  of  this  her  sister  Ann  went  to 
cheer  her  solitude.  This  involved  a  journey  for 
about  two  hundred  miles  through  a  wild  country, 
with  two  or  three  native  attendants  only.  Danger 
from  man  there  was  none.  Even  heathen  Bech- 
wanas  were  so  far  amenable  to  the  Christian  influ- 
ences which  had  been  permeating  the  country  that 
any  member  of  the  Mission  faniilies,  or  indeed  any 
European,  would  have  been  as  safe  as  he  would 
have  been  in  London — if  not  safer  ;  but  the  country 
swarmed  with  lions.  The  young  girl,  with  her  maid 
and  a  couple  of  nati^^e  waggon -boys,  made  the 
journey  to  Mabotsa  in  peace.  After  a  few  months 
the  Livingstones  were  all  ready  for  removal  to 
Chonwane,  and  as  they  left  for  the  north  their  sister 
started  for  the  south.  Towards  the  close  of  the 
second  day's  journey  it  was  discovered  that  some- 
thing belonging  to   the   native   servants  had  been 


A    NIGHT   WITH   THE   LION.  249 

dropped.  One  of  the  men,  with  a  companion,  took 
the  only  serviceable  gun  in  the  waggon  and  started 
back  to  look  for  it.  The  approach  of  sunset  warned 
the  driver,  the  only  man  left  with  the  waggon,  to 
halt  ;  which  he  did  on  the  open  plain  near  a  few 
bushes.  The  oxen  had  been  unyoked,  and  were 
grazing  close  to  the  waggon  ;  a  fire  had  been  lighted 
and  the  kettle  put  on,  and  the  tired  travellers  were 
sitting  in  the  peaceful  twilight.  A  sudden  rush  was 
heard,  the  oxen  galloped  past  the  waggon  and  right 
away,  except  one,  which  fell,  with  a  lion  on  his 
back,  not  fifty  yards  from  where  Miss  Moffat  was 
sitting.  It  did  not  take  her  long,  with  her  maid,  to 
jump  into  the  waggon,  where  the  man  also  took 
refuge.  Darkness  closed  in,  and  for  hours  the  lion 
could  be  heard  tearing  and  crunching  to  his  heart's 
content,  whilst  the  weaponless  wights  in  the  waggon 
had  to  sit  and  listen,  and  wonder  what  had  become 
of  the  other  oxen,  and  of  the  men  who  were  out 
without^even  the  shelter  they  enjoyed.  After  what 
seemed  to  them  a  good  many  hours  the  lion  finished 
his  meal,  gave  a  contented  sort  of  roar,  and  went 
away.  As  daylight  drew  on  it  became  plain  that 
either  he  was  back  again  or  that  another  had  taken 
his  place ;  but  as  the  sun  rose  he  left,  not  liking  to 
be  so  near  the  waggon  in  broad  daylight.  The  ques- 
tion now  was.  What  is  to  be  done  ?  The  nearest 
water  was  ten  miles  farther  on,  whilst  that  they  had 
left  the  previous  morning  was  quite  twenty  miles 
away,  at  a  Bechwana  village.  There  was  nothing 
for  it  but  to  walk  back  again.  They  did  so,  the 
females  expecting  that  out  of  every  bush  would  dash 
another  of  their  dreaded  enemies.     They  met  the 


250  THE   ADVENTURE   ENDS    WELL. 

two  men  coming  on.  They,  too,  had  been  beset  by 
a  h'on,  and  had  spent  the  night  in  a  tree.  They 
reached  the  place  in  safety — hungry,  thirsty,  and 
footsore ;  were  kindly  received  and  entertained  by 
the  natives,  and  continued  their  journey  next  day 
to  Mabotsa,  where  they  found  the  remainder  of 
their  oxen.  The  waggon  was  brought  back  again, 
and  a  fresh  start  made  for  the  Kuruman. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

MAJ^V  MOFFAT   VISITS  CHONWANE. 
1844-1847. 

FOR  some  years  after  the  return  from  England 
the  work  went  on  with  but  little  interruption. 
The  station  had  become  the  centre  of  a  large 
area  of  activity.  Besides  Edwards,  Inglis,  and  Liv- 
ingstone northwards,  and  Ross  at  Taung,  Helmore 
was  at  Lekatlong,  in  the  neighbourhood  of  what  are 
now  the  Diamond  Fields.  To  all  these  Kuruman 
was  the  mother  station,  from  which  were  drawn  sup- 
plies of  books  and  of  many  other  useful  things. 
The  venerable  Hamilton,  who  had  seen  the  com- 
mencement of  the  Bechwana  Mission  in  18 16,  was 
still  able  to  render  some  aid,  where  all  were  workers. 
The  Moffats  and  Ashtons  were  fully  employed,  both 
husbands  and  wives.  Moffat's  chief  work  was 
translation,  and  in  this  Ashton  was  able  to  render 
him  much  critical  assistance,  besides  relieving  him 
almost  entirely  of  the  duties  of  the  printing 
office.  But  these  represented  only  a  small  part  of 
the  labours,  manual  and  mental,  which  filled  up  the 
day's  work.     The  missionaries  were  surrounded  by 


252    LABOURS   GREAT  AND   SMALL. 

a  people  just  struggling  into  light  out  of  darkness, 
dimly  grasping  the  value  of  civilization,  but  needing 
much  help  and  guidance.  The  native  converts  were 
willine  enouofh  to  assist,  but  had  themselves  to  be 
taught  how  to  do  so.  There  were  the  usual  disap- 
pointments to  which  all  missionaries  at  home  and 
abroad  are  accustomed.  Again  and  again  was  the 
stone  brought  with  labour  near  the  top  of  the  hill, 
only  to  roll  down  again  to  the  bottom  ;  and  the  toil 
had  to  be  begun  over  again.  When  encouragement 
came  it  was  thankfully  received  ;  but  in  their  pros- 
perous times  the  Moffats  never  forgot  what  years  of 
effort  and  suffering  had  first  been  necessary. 

Besides  direct  mission  work  there  was  much  to 
be  done  of  a  subsidiary  character.  Dwelling-houses 
had  to  be  enlarged  and  new  schoolrooms  built. 
The  natives  were  now  advanced  enough  to  give 
good  help,  but  the  chief  workmen  were  still  the 
missionaries  themselves.  There  was  no  allowance 
for  the  payment  of  artizans,  and  they  must  put  their 
own  hands  to  the  work.  What  necessary  cost  was 
involved  in  the  new  schoolrooms  was  met  by  the 
opening  of  a  kind  of  amateur  shop  by  the  mission- 
aries' wives,  in  which  was  sold  a  quantity  of  clothing 
which  had  been  given  for  the  purposes  of  the  mis- 
sion by  working  associations  in  England.  No 
doubt  this  supplied  another  shaft  to  those  who  were 
always  ready  to  say  that  missionaries  were  only 
traders  in  disguise.  There  was  no  disguise  about 
it — the  trade  was  there,  but  its  object  was  no  private 
gain,  but  to  make  the  resources  placed  in  the  hands 
of  the  missionaries  go  as  far  as  possible  towards  the 
furtherance  of  the  gospel. 


THE   SUNSET  HOUR.  253 

In  the  year  1845  Robert  Moffat  had  a  merciful 
deliverance  from  what  might  have  been  a  great 
calamity.  He  had  just  set  up  a  new  corn-mill,  and 
whilst  seeing  to  its  being  properly  started  unwarily 
stretched  his  arm  over  two  cog-wheels.  In  a 
moment  the  shirt-sleeve,  and  with  it  the  arm,  was 
drawn  in.  Happily  the  mill  was  stopped  in  time, 
but  an  immense  gaping  wound,  six  inches  in  length, 
with  torn  edges,  was  the  result  ;  and  for  many 
weeks  the  strong  man  was  laid  aside.  It  pleased 
God  to  give  such  a  recovery  as  might  at  one  time 
have  seemed  wellnigh  impossible. 

The  public  services  were,  of  course,  in  the  Sech- 
wana  language.  Once  a  week  the  missionary  fami- 
lies met  for  an  English  devotional  meeting.  It  was 
also  a  sort  of  custom  that  as  the  sun  went  down 
there  should  be  a  short  truce  from  work  every 
evening.  A  certain  eminence  at  the  back  of  the 
station  became,  by  common  consent,  the  meeting- 
place.  There  the  missionary  fathers  of  the  hamlet 
would  be  found,  each  sitting  on  his  accustomed  stone. 
Before  them  lay  the  broad  valley,  once  a  reedy 
morass,  now  reclaimed  and  partitioned  out  into 
garden  lands  :  its  margin  fringed  with  long  water- 
courses, overhung  with  grey  willows  and  the  dark- 
green  syringa.  On  the  low  ground  bordering  the 
valley  stood  the  church,  with  its  attendant  mission- 
houses  and  schools,  and  on  the  heights  were  perched 
the  native  villages,  for  the  most  part  composed  of 
round,  conical  huts,  not  unlike  corn-stacks  at  a  dis- 
tance, with  some  more  ambitious  attempts  at  house- 
building in  the  shape  of  semi-European  cottages. 
Eastward  stretched  a  grassy  plain,  bounded  by  the 


254    MARY  MOFFAT  STARTS  FOR  CHONWANE. 

horizon  and  westward  a  similar  plain,  across  which, 
about  five  miles  distant,  was  a  range  of  low  hills. 
Down  to  the  right,  in  a  bushy  dell,  was  the  little 
burying-ground,  marked  by  a  few  trees. 

It  was  a  peaceful  half-hour  during  which  to  watch 
the  sunset.  The  light-blue  smoke  would  be  rising 
on  the  still  air,  the  cattle  just  come  in  settling  down 
in  their  various  kraals  ;  the  Bechwana  boys  would  be 
taking  an  evening  canter  on  the  backs  of  their  young 
oxen,  and  the  older  men,  as  they  looked  upon  the 
tranquil  scene,  would  often  recall  the  former  years 
when  the  Kuruman  valley  was  the  gloomy  and 
dreaded  haunt  of  the  wild  Bushmen,  with  their 
poisoned  arrows,  and  when  the  whole  land  was  full 
of  war  and  rapine. 

In  1846  Mary  Moffat  started  on  a  visit  to  the 
Livingstones  at  Chonwane.  It  added  another  to 
the  list  of  her  long  and  adventurous  journeys 
alone,  but  her  mother-heart  was  anxious  about  the 
daughter  now  enduring  sickness  and  hardship  in  a 
new  mission.  She  would  not  take  away  her  husband 
from  his  work,  so  she  availed  herself  of  the  escort  of 
an  accompanying  native  hunting  party,  and  started 
with  her  three  younger  children. 

Marj/  Moffat  to  her  Husband. 

"Maretsane,  Sept.  3,  1846. 
"We  have  kept  plodding  on  since  eight  o'clock  on 
Monday  morning,  averaging  seven  or  eight  hours  a  day  ; 
the  stages  agreeing  pretty  well  with  your  memorandum— of 
which  I  am  glad,  as  I  do  not  feel  so  utterly  strange  on  the 
road.  Tell  Ann  I  did  not  sleep  well  last  night,  and  my 
thoughts  fixed  on  her  as  a  theme  of  meditation.  I  could 
not  but  contemplate  her  alone  in  this  desert,  and  1  thought 


.    IN   THE  LION  COUNTRY.  253 

till  I  was  melancholy,  and  then  again  till  my  heart  was 
filled  with  joy  and  thankfulness  that  she  was  brought 
safely  amongst  us.  I  am  very  glad  of  Boey's  company, 
although  it  is,  like  many  other  good  things  in  this  world, 
attended  with  its  evils.  I  should  indeed  have  felt  very 
solitary  with  my  lone  waggon,  with  ignorant  people,  but  he 
is  so  completely  at  home  in  this  field  that  one  feels  quite 
easy.  We  do  not  stop  at  nights  by  the  waters,  but  come  to 
them  at  midday,  and  then  leave  about  three  or  four  o'clock. 
We  cannot  but  be  constantly  on  the  outlook  for  lions,  as 
we  come  on  their  spoor  every  day,  and  the  people  some- 
times hear  their  roar.  Just  before  outspanning  to-day  Boey, 
being  on  horseback  looking  for  water,  met  with  a  majestic 
one,  which  stood  still  and  looked  at  him.  He  tried  to 
frighten  him,  but  he  stood  his  ground,  when  Boey  thought 
it  was  time  to  send  a  ball  into  him,  which  broke  his  leg,  by 
which  he  is  disabled  from  paying  us  a  visit.  We  have  very 
much  to  be  thankful  for,  never  even  having  had  a  fright. 
Till  to-day  we  have  always  had  water  at  the  places  where 
it  is  usual.  Here  we  have  had  to  dig  for  it.  The  country 
is  indeed  very  dry.  Game  is  tolerably  plentiful.  We  get 
beautiful  water  yesterday  in  the  sandy  bed  of  the  Sitlagole 
River.  I  regretted  not  having  your  book  with  me,  to  re- 
fresh my  memory  as  to  past  events  in  these  localities  with 
the  Barolong  and  Mantatees,  not  excepting  your  own 
doings.  I  had  no  idea  that  Sitlagole  had  ever  had  such  a 
river." 

"  Chonwane,  Sep/.  15,  1846. 

"  Through  the  goodness  of  our  heavenly  Father  we 
arrived  here  on  the  loth,  and  found  all  well.  Having 
written  some  days  before  from  the  Maretsane,  I  had  not 
had  leisure  to  write  again,  Sunday  having  been  a  most  dis- 
agreeable day,  spent  at  a  place  called  Raphutse,  a  good 
stage  from  Mabotsa.  At  the  Maretsane  it  was  so  dry  that 
our  oxen  could  not  drink.  We  could  have  got  water  by 
digging  at  some  considerable  distance  from  the  outspan 
place,  but  there  being  so  many  indications  of  the  district 
being  greatly  infested  with  lions,  our  party  having  wounded 
two,  I  strongly  advised  them  to  rather  face  thirst  than  an 


256  AN  INTERESTING   COUNTRY, 

encounter  nocturnally  with  these  formidable  animals.  In 
this  I  was  warmly  seconded  by  Martinus,  and  so  we  spanned 
in  an  hour  before  sunset,  and  rode  about  two  hours.  Here 
we  were  allowed  to  rest  quietly,  though  they  were  heard  in 
every  direction  at  a  distance. 

"  We  did  not  come  on  your  old  route  to  the  Maretsane, 
but  farther  west,  which  made  our  stage  only  five  hours  to 
Lotlakane,  where  we  got  water,  though  at  some  distance 
from  the  road  ;  and  again  started  about  four  o'clock,  and 
arrived  at  Molopo  about  dusk,  and  found  the  river  flowing, 
which  surprised  the  people,  on  account  of  the  prevailing 
drought.  We  had  everywhere  seen  abundance  of  game, 
and  Boey  and  his  friends  got  plenty  of  flesh.  The 
children  also  were  much  pleased  with  the  variety  of  animals 
they  were  privileged  to  see  ;  and  Boey  was  very  obliging 
in  bringing  them  before  us  whenever  it  was  practicable.  I 
had  just  gone  to  bed  when  a  troop  of  buffaloes  came  to  the 
river  to  drink.  One  of  them  was  quickly  despatched,  and 
this  was  an  additional  treat  for  the  children  next  morning 
to  see  his  huge  head. 

"  I  was  perfectly  enraptured  on  entering  the  first  valley 
(Maanwane)  of  the  Bakhatla :  and  it  being  necessary  for 
me  to  get  out  of  the  waggon  on  account  of  the  rugged  path, 
I  could  examine  the  shrubs  to  my  great  delight.  It  seemed 
altogether  another  region  of  the  world.  We  passed  through 
it  about  sunset,  and  were  anxiously  straining  our  eyes  to 
get  a  sight  of  the  station,  when  I  found  we  had  still  to  go 
through  a  small  and  romantic  kloof,  forming  a  passage 
between  the  two  valleys,  and  we  had  to  cross  the  stream 
two  or  three  times.  In  one  of  these  fords  Bocy's  v/aggon 
stuck  fast,  and  all  efforts  to  extricate  it  were  vain.  They 
struggled  hard  till  darkness  put  an  end  to  the  attempt  for 
the  time,  and  Boey  sent  me  word  that  we  were  now  so  near 
that  I  must  drive  on  and  leave  them.  This  I  refused  to 
do.  He  had  behaved  politely  to  me  all  the  way;  besides 
the  conviction  that  our  people  ought  to  do  their  best  to 
help  our  fellow-travellers,  who  had  broken  their  dissel- 
boom. 

"  I  had  had  a  long  walk  up  and  down  the  hill,  and  was 


INTEREST  IN  THE  INTERIOR  MISSIONS.   257 

greatly  excited  by  everything  about  me,  and  felt  terribly 
nervous  and  weak,  and  was  glad  to  lay  down  my  head  to 
rest  in  that  beautiful  kloof  Had  I  not  been  so  tired  I 
would  have  sat  till  midnight,  that  the  moon  might  shed 
additional  beauty  on  the  scenery. 

"  As  soon  as  the  moon  rose  the  men  returned  to  their 
work  at  Boey's  waggon,  unloading  and  pulling  it  out,  and 
mending  the  boom.  We  had  a  good  breakfast,  a  fine 
eland  steak  shot  the  day  before,  and  rode  into  Mabotsa 
about  ten  o'clock." 

After  a  day  spent  with  the  Edwardses  at  Mabotsa, 
she  accomplished  the  remaining  thirty  miles  to 
Chonwane,  the  station  of  Livingstone  ;  where  her 
presence,  as  much  as  the  supplies  she  had  brought 
with  her,  soon  wrought  a  change  and  recruited  the 
health  and  spirits  which  had  run  low.  It  was  a 
great  delight  to  her  to  see  the  first  steps  in  the 
planting  of  Christianity  among  a  heathen  tribe,  and 
reminded  her  of  the  early  days  of  the  Kuruman. 
She  never  forgot  these,  and  ever  regarded  it  as  a 
sacred  duty  to  strengthen  the  hands  of  those  who 
passed  on  to  the  interior. 

Early  in  1847  a  general  meeting  of  those  engaged 
in  the  Bechwana  Mission  was  held  at  Lekatlong. 
On  his  way  back  to  his  station,  Moffat  visited  some 
of  the  Batlaping  villages  along  the  Kolong  River. 
The  advance  which  had  taken  place  of  late  years 
was  striking.  A  severe  contest  was  going  on 
between  heathenism  and  Christianity.  A  little 
company  of  believers  had,  however,  been  gathered 
in  each  place,  and  were  ministered  to  by  native 
teachers,  who  had  spent  a  few  months  in  training 
at  Kuruman.  These  people  were  feeling  the 
pressure  of  the  surrounding  heathenism,  and  were 


258  DEATH  OF  MOFFATS  FATHER. 

proposing,  in  many  instances,  to  remove  to  Kuru- 
man.  From  this  step  they  were  dissuaded  by  the 
missionary,  who  pointed  out  to  them  the  value  of 
their  presence  and  testimony  to  the  gospel  in  the 
midst  of  a  heathen  community.  The  test  of  their 
sincerity  has  no  doubt  been  severe,  and  has  led  to 
many  relapses  ;  but  greater  reliance  can  be  placed 
on  those  who  remain  firm  in  the  midst  of  some 
of  the  more  heathen  villages  in  isolated  situations, 
than  on  those  who,  under  the  wing  of  the  mis- 
sionaries at  headquarters,  have  every  inducement 
to  maintain  their  profession. 

Whilst  Robert  Moffat  was  thus  engaged,  death 
bad  entered  his  Scottish  home ;  his  father  having 
passed  away  after  only  a  few  days'  illness.  He  had 
been  for  fifty  years  an  officer  of  the  Government 
in  the  customs,  and  had  just  retired  on  pension. 
His  son  Richard,  who  had  never  left  his  parents, 
and  continued  to  reside  with  his  mother  until  her 
death,  writes  thus : 

"  I  do  think  that  he  had  been  rather  falling  off  for  some 
time  past,  though  he  always  looked  so  fresh  in  the  face, 
and  his  spirits  were  so  buoyant  in  the  presence  of  friends. 
I  saw  that  in  doing  some  Httle  things  in  the  garden  he  was 
more  easily  fatigued  than  formerly,  though  I  attributed  it 
entirely  to  the  weakness  of  one  at  his  age — upwards  of 
seventy-nine,  mother's  age  exceeding  his  by  some  ten 
months.     She  is  eighty,  past  7th  of  March. 

"Our  father  enjoyed  his  pension  one  month  only,  so 
that  he  has  not  been  a  burden  on  the  country.  We  will 
miss  him  much.  He  was  always  looking  out  and  putting 
things  to  rights,  and  being  a  man  of  peace  was  a  cementer 
of  differences  when  any  arose  ;  and  it  grieved  him  to  see 
those  who  ought  to  dwell  together  in  unity,  snarling  and 
disagreeing  with  one  another." 


LETTER  OF  CONDOLENCE  TO  HIS  MOTHER.  259 

"KUKUMAN,  Sc/if.   II,   1847. 

"  My  dear  and  widowed  Mother, — It  is  with  feelings 
of  the  deepest  sympathy  I  thus  address  you.  By  a  letter 
just  come  to  hand  from  Helen  I  learn  this  melancholy  intel- 
ligence. How  deeply  you  must  feel  the  sudden  stroke  in 
thus  being  severed,  after  a  union  of  nearly  sixty  years, 
from  him  who  was  the  husband  of  your  youth.  Had  it 
been  the  announcement  of  your  own  departure  I  should 
have  felt  less,  for  you  seemed  to  be  like  one  sipping  at 
Jordan's  stream  for  several  bygone  years  ;  and  you  have 
lived  to  see  my  beloved  father  laid  in  the  silent  grave,  gone 
before  you  to  the  abodes  of  the  redeemed.  Though  I 
cannot  restrain  my  tears,  I  will  not,  I  cannot  complain. 
How  gracious  has  our  heavenly  Father  been  to  us,  your 
children,  in  sparing  you  to  us  so  long,  and  in  circumstances, 
too,  which  have  called  on  us  loudly  to  give  thanks  to  Him 
who  appoints  the  bounds  of  our  habitation.  Mother,  dear 
mother,  your  many  prayers  have  been  heard.  Well  do  I 
remember  the  time  when  prayer  was  called  for.  Wherever 
I  am  I  never  forget  how  much  I  owe  to  your  prayers. 
The  first  dawn  of  reflection  respecting  my  soul  commenced 
with  hearing  you  pray.  Oh  may  He  who  has  been  your 
refuge  continue  to  be  your  shield  and  stay  ;  may  He  wipe 
away  the  falling  tear  and  heal  the  wound  that  His  hand 
has  made !  It  is  a  Father's  hand.  I  frequently  remember 
the  last  words  of  your  now  sainted  father,  *  Faithful  are  the 
wounds  of  a  friend.'  There  are  many  links  which  hold  us 
down  to  earth.  One  is  snapped,  and  we  know  not  how 
soon  another  and  another. 

"  I  still  thank  my  indulgent  God  that  I  was,  with  my 
family,  permitted  to  see  you  once  more  after  twenty-three 
years'  absence.  This  was  a  great  favour.  I  never  during 
that  long  period  expressed  a  wish  that  it  should  be  so,  for 
I  was  the  bond-servant  of  the  perishing  heathen  for  Christ's 
sake,  but  He  whom  we  served  in  the  gospel  of  His  Son 
brought  it  about  in  His  own  good  time." 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

MAJ^Y  MOFFAT  JOURNEYS  TO  THE  CAPE. 
1847-1849. 

IN  1847  the  question  of  education  for  the  younger 
children  again  came  to  the  front.  The  parents 
had  made  up  their  minds  that  action  could  no 
longer  be  delayed,  and  that  the  children  must  go, 
at  least,  as  far  as  the  Cape.  The  father  could  not 
leave  his  work,  so  the  mother  had  to  go  alone.  She 
started  on  the  second  of  August  with  the  three 
children,  a  son  and  two  daughters.  Her  attendants 
were  four  Bechwana  men  and  a  maid.  An  elder 
daughter  remained  at  home  to  keep  house  for  her 
father  and  for  the  now  aged  Hamilton.  Robert 
Moffat  accompanied  the  travellers  a  day's  journey 
on  their  way,  and  then  bid  them  a  long  farewell. 
Two  of  the  children  he  did  not  see  as^ain  for  eleven  1 
years. 

The  journey  to  Cape  Town,  extending  over  a 
period  of  two  months,  had  still  to  be  made  in  the 
slow  ox-waggon  ;  but  to  the  mother  the  time  seemed 
all  too  short.  She  felt  that  it  was  the  last  she  would 
ever  have  with  her  young  children  about  her.      Her 


LAST  WEEKS  WITH  HER  LITTLE  ONES.    261 

loving  heart  never  got  hardened  to  these  partings, 
one  of  the  severest  crosses  incident  to  the  missionary 
calling.  The  children,  too,  were  not  so  young  that 
they  could  not  feel  the  shadow  of  the  impending 
change.  During  those  few  weeks  of  lonely  wilder- 
ness life,  the  members  of  the  little  group  were  all  in 
all  to  each  other.  There  was  a  pathetic  tenderness 
in  the  interest  which  the  mother  took  in  the  wild 
flowers  and  curious  pebbles  which  the  children 
gathered  on  the  hill-sides  and  in  the  stony  river- 
beds ;  and  the  gentle  and  homely  counsels  and 
warnings  then  given  are  not  forgotten  even  now, 
nearly  forty  years  after. 

The  journey  was  made  without  accident  or  hin- 
drance. In  the  homesteads  of  the  farmers  and  in 
the  villages  along  the  route  all  was  goodwill.  Rail- 
ways, express  coaches,  and  hotels,  are  no  doubt  a 
great  improvement ;  but  the  old-fashioned  hospi- 
tality of  those  days  is  a  pleasant  thing  to  remember, 
for  all  that.  The  Cape  was  reached  at  last,  and 
Mary  Moffat  took  up  her  abode  at  Claremont,  and 
found  her  trusty  friend  Mr.  Mathew  an  invaluable 
assistance  in  the  many  cares  and  anxieties  of  her 
position. 

She  was  confronted  at  the  outset  with  a  great 
disappointment  and  perplexity.  Her  elder  son 
Robert,  who  had  been  left  in  England  for  his  edu- 
cation, and  who  his  parents  had  hoped  would  go 
through  a  course  of  study  at  Glasgow,  preparatory 
to  coming  out  as  a  missionary,  had  broken  down  in 
health,  and  been  driven  to  return  in  all  haste  to  the 
Cape.  His  coming  out  under  these  circumstances 
led  to  his  employment  under   Government  in   the 


262      HER  PERPLEXITIES  ABOUT  THEM, 

Survey  Department.  He  always  remained  a  firm 
and  true  friend  of  the  natives,  and  was  subsequently 
of  great  service  to  the  Bechwana  Mission  in  a  com- 
mercial capacity  ;  but  anything  short  of  his  entire 
consecration  to  direct  missionary  work  failed  to 
satisfy  his  parents,  with  their  intense  devotedness 
to  a  cause  to  which  it  was  their  desire  to  feel  that 
they  had  given  not  only  themselves,  but  their  children 
as  well. 

The  anxieties  involved  in  his  affairs,  and  in  a 
partial  change  of  plan  with  regard  to  the  younger 
children,  were  very  great.  Mary  Moffat  had  to  act 
upon  her  own  responsibility.  Postal  communication 
went  as  far  as  Colesberg,  and  no  farther.  The 
remaining  two  hundred  and  fifty  miles  was  bridged 
by  casual  opportunities,  and  the  attention  of  agents, 
more  or  less  prompt,  at  certain  points  on  the  route. 
Consultation  with  the  father  at  Kuruman  was  almost 
out  of  the  question.  A  letter,  to  which  a  special 
answer  was  required,  was  despatched,  with  the 
request  to  an  agent  at  Colesberg  that  it  might  be 
forwarded  with  all  haste.  It  took  three  months  in 
transit,  which  was  rather  longer  than  usual. 

A  favourable  opportunity  presenting  itself,  she 
put  her  two  little  girls  on  board  a  ship,  under  the 
care  of  a  minister  and  his  wife  returning  home  from 
/  the  Cape.  The  boy  was  placed  at  school  in  Cape 
Town  for  a  time.  In  the  month  of  March,  1848, 
she  had  her  waggon  packed,  and  with  her  native 
servants  addressed  herself  to  her  long  and  solitary 
journey  back  to  the  Kuruman. 


MOTIVES  FOR  PARTING  WITH  CHILDREN.  263 


Mary  Moffat  to  her  FatJier, 

"  On  the  way  to  the  Kukuman  in  the  Karroo, 

"  March  17,  1848. 

"  My  dear  old  Father, — If  your  thread  of  life  is 
lengthened  till  you  receive  this,  I  am  sure  you  will  forgive 
nie  the  great  crime  of  which  I  have  been  guilty — that  of 
having  been  five  months  in  Cape  Town  and  never  writing 
to  you.  Believe  me,  honoured  parent,  you  were  not  for- 
gotten ;  but  the  desire  of  writing  to  you  fully  and  circum- 
stantially caused  me  to  delay  thus  shamefully.  The  fact 
was,  from  the  day  of  my  arrival  I  was  the  subject  of 
perplexity  and  anxiety.  Having  been  led  to  expect  our 
dear  boy  about  the  end  of  October,  I  waited  till  he  should 
arrive.  Besides  which  I  had  come  for  the  express  object 
of  sending  John  to  England,  but  was  immediately  deterred 
from  doing  so  until  I  should  again  hear  from  his  father,  as 
there  appeared  to  me  some  temerity  in  so  doing  after  his 
brother's  health  had  failed,  who  was  always  robust. 

Before  I  left  home,  my  husband  and  Livingstone  had 
been  pressing  on  my  attention  very  closely  the  propriety  of 
sending  the  two  little  girls.  My  heart  rebelled  for  some 
time,  and  I  felt  the  thing  impossible  ;  but  again,  on  con- 
sidering that  there  was  a  school  for  them  at  comparatively 
small  expense,  that  owing  to  my  constantly  declining 
strength  they  could  not  have  a  suitable  education  at  home, 
and  then  the  journey  I  was  about  to  take  on  John's 
account  would  involve  an  expense  which  could  not  be 
incurred  again  for  many  years  to  come,  I  began  to  con- 
sider the  matter  in  all  its  bearings.  I  saw  that,  should  I 
be  called  to  leave  them,  my  death-bed  would  be  embit- 
tered by  the  consideration  that  they  might  have  been 
placed  in  circumstances  more  favourable  to  a  proper 
training  for  usefulness  in  the  Church  and  in  the  world, 
but  for  the  victory  my  feelings  had  got  over  my  judgment. 
I  felt  that  in  being  thus  weak  I  should  be  unjust  to  them, 
and  thus  yielded  the  point.  When  Robert  and  I  parted, 
it  was  with  this  understanding  distinctly,  that  if  I  met  with 
favourable  protection  for  them  for  the  voyage  they  should 


264        SACRIFICES  FOR  CHRISTS  SAKE. 

go  ;  if  not,  I  was  to  bring  them  back  again.  This  was 
to  be  the  finger  of  God  pointing  the  way,  and  in  the  mean- 
time the  matter  was  to  be  spread  before  the  Lord  continu- 
ally, with  all  due  submission  to  what  appeared  to  be  His 
will.  .  .  . 

"  Just  at  the  time  that  a  decision  on  my  part  was  im- 
perative, the  Rev.  J.  Crombie  Brown  resolved  on  going 
home,  and  very  kindly  offered  to  take  charge  of  my  chil- 
dren. This  was  more  than  I  looked  for — people  so  kind 
so  pious,  and  having  children  of  their  own  about  the  same 
age.  How  could  I  doubt !  Though  my  heart  was  heaving 
with  anguish,  I  joyfully  and  thankfully  acceded  forthwith, 
and  set  about  preparation  in  good  earnest.  This  was 
about  the  end  of  January.  On  the  loth  of  February 
they  embarked,  and  after  stopping  the  night  on  board,  I 
tore  myself  from  my  darlings  to  return  to  my  desolate 
lodgings  to  contemplate  my  solitary  journey,  and  to  go  to 
my  husband  and  home  childless.  O  my  dear  father,  when 
I  caused  your  breast  to  heave  convulsively  till  the  sobs 
checked  your  utterance  in  Britannia  Row,  Islington,  in 
August,  1 8 19,  it  was  but  the  commencement  of  a  series  of 
such  separations  to  the  present  time  ;  or,  I  should  rather 
have  said  on  the  6th  of  August,  at  Dukinfield  Nursery, 
when  I  last  hung  on  the  neck  of  my  own  dear  mother. 
What  scenes  have  we  not  passed  through  since  that  memo- 
rable day  !  But  have  we,  my  dear  father,  ever  had  cause 
to  regret  these  sacrifices  which  have  been  made  for  the 
cause  of  God  ?  No  !  He  has  richly  fulfilled  His  promises 
to  us,  and  even  where  His  steps  have  been  involved  in 
mystery  so  that  we  cannot  trace  Him,  we  have  the  assur- 
ance that  '  all  things  work  together  for  good  to  those  who 
love  God,  and  are  the  called  according  to  His  purpose.' 

"  But  to  return  to  my  narrative.  Having  such  a  charm- 
ing opportunity,  I  regretted  losing  it  for  John,  in  case  his 
father  should  blame  me.  I  was  just  on  the  point  of  send- 
ing him,  too,  but  could  not  see  my  way  clear,  and  was 
therefore  in  the  depths  of  perplexity  when  good  Mr, 
Steedman,  who  once  before  delivered  us  out  of  a  dilemma, 
came  in  and  said,  '  Do  not  send  him  till  you  hear  from  his 


PROGRESS  MEANWHILE  AT  THE  STATION.  265 

father :  and  then,  should  he  wish  it,  he  shall  go  with  us 
about  the  end  of  March.'  I  was  thus  relieved  in  my  ex- 
tremity only  three  days  before  the  embarkation,  and  three 
days  after  got  a  letter  fully  sanctioning  his  remaining  in 
Cape  Town.  Though  I  feel  excessively — for  my  nerves 
have  got  a  great  shock — my  judgment  still  approves  what 
has  been  done  after  five  weeks  have  passed.  We  have 
mothers  in  Israel  in  England,  but  not  fathers,  in  this  day 
of  rapid  movements  in  mind  and  matter.  Every  man  has 
too  much  to  attend  to  to  have  leisure  to  exercise  a  fatherly 
control  over  other  people's  children.  With  the  ladies  it  is 
different,  there  being  so  many  single  who  have  mixed  with 
their  benevolence  so  large  a  share  of  maternity.  I  have 
confidence  that  our  beloved  friends  the  Eisdells  will  not 
lose  sight  of  my  lambkins.  They  have  most  generously 
and  nobly  taken  upon  themselves  much  care  and  anxiety, 
and  labour  too,  for  the  elder  ones,  and  I  have  dared  again 
to  presume  on  their  kindness,  for  it  is  the  element  in  which 
they  live.  .  .  . 

"  The  latest  news  from  the  station  was  good  :  all  well  in 
the  beginning  of  January.  Ann  earning  a  splendid  repu- 
tation as  housekeeper  and  infant-school  mistress  combined. 
The  prophecies  of  Isaiah  have  been  printed  since  I  left, 
and  the  '  Pilgrim '  was  on  the  way  to  be  finished.  This  is 
some  consolation  to  me  that  though  I  had  to  pass  through 
so  much  alone,  something  so  important  has  been  done, 
which  could  not  have  been  done  had  my  husband  come 
himself  I  have  never  had  the  powers  of  mind  and  body 
more  taxed  as  a  mother  than  during  the  last  two  years. 
The  Livingstones  came  out  last  year,  half  withered  away 
with  fatigue  and  privation.  I  laboured  hard  to  fetch  up  their 
strength,  and  sent  Mary  back  with  her  children  like  roses. 
But  the  trouble  I  spent  over  them  was  at  the  expense  of 
my  own  little  ones,  who  during  those  months  had  very 
little  of  my  attention.  This  I  endeavoured  to  make  up  to 
them  on  my  journey  to  the  Cape.  While  I  have  been 
there  they  have  been  the  all-engrossing  subject  ;  nor  have 
I  dared  to  indulge  in  reading  or  writing  lest  I  should  for- 
get what  related  to  them.     If  I  am  now  allowed  to  return 


266  AN  AGED   PARENT. 

to  the  station,  I  hope  to  serve  the  mission  and  my  hus- 
band with  renewed  vigour  for  a  while. 

"  In  his  last  letter  he  tells  me  one  had  come  to  hand 
from  you,  and  gives  me  the  contents.  It  is  a  cause  of 
thankfulness  to  us  both  to  see  you  so  composed  and  col- 
lected, and  so  thankful  for  the  mercies  you  enjoy.  Your 
experience  reminds  me  of  a  sweet  verse  of  the  late  Charles 
Wesley,  composed  when  very  old.  I  cannot  repeat  it,  but 
it  begins,  *  In  age  and  feebleness  extreme.'  It  is  to  be 
found  in  Roby's  Selection,  and  mine  having  disappeared, 
I  have  not  read  it  for  many  years.  I  am  sure  it  would  be 
sweet  to  you.  Give  my  warmest  love  to  the  dear  Sheldons. 
May  our  Lord  and  Master  richly  reward  them  for  all  their 
kindness  to  you.  They  have  indeed  strengthened  my 
hands  and  comforted  my  heart  in  their  attentions  to  you, 
for  I  esteem  it  one  of  my  chief  mercies  that  you  are  so 
comfortable  in  your  latter  end.  .  .  . 

"  I  must  now  close,  my  dear  father,  which  always  makes 
me  sad  from  the  conviction  that  I  may  never  have  oppor- 
tunity to  address  you  again.  But,  my  dear  father,  we  shall 
soon  meet  for  all  that ;  and 

'  There  on  a  green  and  flowery  mount 
Our  weary  souls  shall  sit, 
And  with  transporting  joy  recount 
The  labours  of  our  feet.' 

"  I  have  written  this  on  my  first  leisure  hours  in  the 
desert,  while  much  fatigued.  Adieu,  dear  and  venerable 
parent. — Your  ever  affectionate  daughter." 

"South  Bank  of  the  Orange  River, 

"  April  21,  1848. 

"  My  dear  Robert, — Through  the  tender  mercies  of 
God,  here  am  I,  to  the  great  joy  of  my  heart ;  for  though 
such  a  formidable  barrier  as  this  swollen  river  lies  be- 
tween me  and  my  beloved  home,  I  now  feel  that  I  only 
want  this  luxury,  to  know  that  all  is  well,  to  make  me 
quite  happy.  It  appears  that  patience  must  be  tried  on 
this  journey ;  but  as  I  cannot  blame  myself  for  having 
lingered  one  single  night  when  we  might  have  gone  on,  I 


FLOODED  RIVERS  AGAIN.  267 

can  now  be  satisfied  to  wait  the  Lord's  time.  He  has  led 
me  and  guided  me  all  through,  and  when  I  am  tempted  to 
think  some  awful  trial  may  await  me  at  my  journey's  end, 
I  think  of  the  argument  used  by  Manoah's  wife  with  her 
husband,  and  thus  my  fears  are  allayed.  The  loth  of 
January  is  my  last  date  from  )'ou,  so  that  I  am  really  in 
the  dark  as  to  what  may  have  transpired,  for  here  I  can 
hear  nothing.  I  did  indulge  a  hope  that  you  might  have 
got  some  of  my  letters,  and  that  I  might  meet  you  some- 
where hereabouts.  I  cannot  recollect  whether  your  meeting 
at  Griqua  Town  is  in  the  first  week  in  May  or  after  the 
first  Sabbath,  but  I  have  resolved  to  write  and  beg  of  Mr. 
Solomon  to  get  this  conveyed  to  you  as  quickly  as  pos- 
sible, as  it  may  influence  your  movements. 

"  We  arrived  here  last  night  in  a  heavy  thunderstorm, 
after  having  spanned  out  at  midday  because  we  could  get 
no  further,  the  waggon  having  stuck  fast  in  a  sand-bank, 
and  there,  with  the  front  to  the  wind,  I  was  some  hours  in 
showers  of  sand.  To-day  has  been  dark  and  looming,  and 
again  this  afternoon  a  heavy  storm.  Indeed,  I  think  I 
have  not  seen  such  a  sky  since  I  was  on  the  line  —  so 
tropical.  It  is  evidently  the  breaking  of  the  season,  and 
I  cannot  guess  whether  it  will  affect  the  river  or  not,  for 
the  clouds  and  rain  are  everywhere  about.  This  moment 
we  have  had  a  heavy  hailstorm  from  the  west,  but  I  must 
resume,  having  the  prospect  of  a  man  swimming  over  to- 
morrow, and  cannot  let  it  slip.  I  have  only  one  candle 
left,  and  if  I  use  it  to-night  must  do  without  afterwards. 
On  Monday  I  did  hope  to  have  taken  my  cup  of  coffee 
with  the  Solomons  this  evening,  or  at  latest  to-morrow.  The 
people  say  that  the  water  will  require  a  fortnight  to  run  off, 
but  I  cannot  believe  it.  They  say  also  that  it  is  at  least 
four  stages  to  where  the  boat  is,  below  the  junction.  I  would 
rather  not  use  the  boat  if  it  can  be  avoided.  .  .  . 

"  I  should  think  you  will  have  heard  by  this  time  that 
I  left  the  Cape  on  the  6th  of  March,  arrived  at  Beaufort 
West  on  the  ist  of  April,  have  had  to  sing  of  mercy  un- 
mingled,  though  we  have  had  an  ample  share  of  what  is 
disagreeable  on  an  African  journey  :  a  broken  axle,  heavy 


268  DIFFICULTIES  BY   THE    WAY. 

thunderstorms,  and  nriuch  rain  from  the  other  side  of  the 
Gamka  to  this  moment,  and  consequently  oxen  with  sore 
feet  and  sore  necks  ;  quagmires  in  abundance  :  sometimes 
we  were  stuck  in  them  for  three  or  four  hours;  one  night  we 
slept  in  one.  But  out  of  all  our  troubles  the  Lord  has 
delivered  us,  and  the  voice  of  joy  and  praise  ought  to  be 
heard  amongst  us.  You  will  guess  the  people  have  had 
their  miseries,  but  the  tent  has  been  a  great  comfort 
to  them.  .  .  . 

"  My  dear  Robert,  I  feel  for  you  that  I  come  alone,  but 
the  retrospect  of  the  way  in  which  we  have  been  led  is 
highly  satisfactory  to  me.  I  cannot  wish  it  undone.  I  trust 
our  darlings  are  about  this  time  reaching  the  land  of  their 
fathers,  and  have  confidence  that  they  will  be  blessed." 

A  few  days  later  Mary  Moffat  writes  to  one  of 
her  children  : 

"  On  the  20th  of  April  we  saw  the  noble  stream,  to 
our  heart's  dismay,  for  we  had  now  the  gloomy  prospect 
of  long  detention  on  the  southern  side.  We  arrived  at  the 
English  ford  and  had  rain  and  cold  for  four  successive 
days.  The  Vortuins  came  over  and  sent  my  letter  to  papa 
to  the  care  of  Mr.  Solomon,  and  he  sent  me  back  a  budget 
which  had  been  waiting  my  arrival,  all  from  Kuruman. 
These  cheered  me  in  my  solitude,  and  Mr.  S.  kindly  ad- 
vised me  to  go  on  to  Read's  ford,  where  he  would  meet 
me  with  swimmers,  and,  if  practicable,  get  me  over.  We 
accordingly  went  thither,  but  alas  !  the  water  was  too  high, 
and  there  was  no  alternative  but  to  go  still  higher  up  to  the 
junction,  and  get  Mr.  Hughes  to  take  us  over  with  his  boat, 
or  wait  papa's  arrival — to  the  latter  I  was  strongly  inclined. 
On  Saturday  night  late  we  arrived,  not  at  the  proper  place, 
but  not  far  from  it,  and  when  dressing  in  the  morning  the 
maid  told  me  papa  was  on  the  other  side !  You  may  be 
sure  I  lost  no  time  in  letting  him  know  where  I  was,  and 
on  Tuesday  evening  we  had  the  happiness  of  saluting 
across  the  beautiful  expanse  of  water  at  the  junction.  The 
boat  had  not  arrived,  and  papa,  having  a  severe  cold,  dared 


A    TIMELY  MEETING.  269 

not  to  swim,  so  that  after  ascertaining  that  all  was  well,  we 
retired  to  our  respective  waggons  for  the  night.  In  the 
morning  we  had  another  salute,  and  then  papa  and  Mr. 
Hughes  set  off  to  meet  and  hasten  the  boat,  which  came 
about  noon,  when  we  had  soon  a  joyful  and  sorrowful 
meeting :  joy,  because  of  all  the  goodness  and  mercy  of 
God  to  the  whole  family  during  our  separation,  and  sorrow, 
or  rather  tender  regret,  for  the  absence  of  the  three  younger 
children.  Yes,  it  was  trying  for  papa  to  see  me  alone,  with 
not  one  little  prattler.  But  these  feelings  were  quickly 
swallowed  up  in  thankfulness  and  praise. 

"  Early  next  morning  they  commenced  operations. 
Edward  Hughes  was  chief  boatman,  and  all  was  through 
before  sunset,  and  then  the  rain  commenced,  so  that  we 
had  hard  work  to  get  everything  under  cover.  We  came 
here  to  Griqua  Town  in  two  days,  and  are  awaiting  the 
meeting  of  Committee,  after  which  we  hope  to  reach  our 
beloved  home  on  the  19th." 

For  two  or  three  years  after  Mary  Moffat's  return 
from  the  Cape,  little  took  place  out  of  the  ordinary 
routine.  Moffat's  chief  energies  were  concentrated 
on  the  work  of  translation.  Duringf  his  wife's 
absence  the  prophecies  of  Isaiah  were  not  only 
translated,  but  put  through  the  press.  Bunyan's 
"  Pilgrim  "  was  now  also  published  in  Sechwana,  and 
additional  parts  of  the  Old  Testament  were  being 
taken  in  hand.  As  the  unwearied  translator  re- 
marks in  one  of  his  letters,  each  portion  of  the 
Scriptures  as  it  came  out  seemed  immediately  to 
call  for  some  additional  portion  to  help  in  its  expla- 
nation. Meanwhile  Ashton,  besides  translating 
"  Line  upon  Line,"  assisted  his  colleague  in  revision 
and  carried  on  the  press-work  ;  the  two  missionaries 
dividing  between  them  the  ordinary  duties  of  the 
station,  with  its  home  church,  and  as  the  centre  of 


270  THE   BOER   INVASION. 

a  large  district  of  out-stations.  The  venerable 
Hamilton,  the  father  of  the  mission,  was  fast  de- 
clining in  strength,  and  could  do  little  more  than 
walk  about,  leaning  on  his  patriarchal  staff;  but 
what  little  he  could  do  was  done  with  the  old  love 
which  had  kept  him  constant  through  cloud  and 
sunshine,  storm  and  calm,  for  more  than  thirty 
years. 

Whilst  at  Kuruman  all  was  peaceful  and  in  a 
measure  prosperous,  clouds  were  gathering  to  the 
eastward,  destined  eventually  to  throw  a  dark 
shadow  over  the  whole  Bechwana  Mission.  The 
Dutch  emigration  from  the  Cape  Colony,  to  which 
reference  has  already  been  made,  had  been  steadily 
going  on  for  some  years.  The  Government  had 
not  thought  fit  to  interfere  with  a  movement  which 
was  a  temporary  solution  of  troublesome  problems 
within  the  Colony  itself  To  those  in  power,  who 
had  no  permanent  stake  or  interest  in  the  country, 
and  to  whom  it  was  a  sufficient  object  to  get  quietly 
through  their  own  term  of  office,  it  was  an  advan- 
tage rather  than  otherwise  to  be  rid  of  a  few 
thousands  of  disaffected  spirits,  who  might  or  might 
not  have  tangible  grievances,  but  whom  it  seemed 
impossible  to  satisfy.  What  matter  if  these  men 
pouring  over  the  Colonial  boundaries  encroached 
upon  the  lands  and  rights  of  many  native  tribes  ? 
So  it  came  to  pass  that  as  years  went  on  the  emi- 
grant Boers  had  spread  themselves  over  the  whole 
of  what  is  now  the  Orange  Free  State,  and  also  a 
considerable  part  of  Natal  and  the  Transvaal.  The 
course  of  the  emigration  was  influenced  by  the 
character  of  the  country,  and  took  for  the  most  part 


EFFECTS  ON  THE  BECHWANA  MISSION.  271 

a  north-easterly  direction.  Kuruman,  lying  as  it 
does  well  away  westward,  on  the  borders  of  the 
Kalahari  desert,  and  in  a  comparatively  dry  country, 
though  in  itself  an  attractive  spot,  has  thus  escaped 
absorption  even  to  this  day. 

Before  the  superior  organization  and  the  firearms 
of  the  white  intruders  the  Bechwanas  had  to  choose 
between  exile  or  vassalage.  It  is  an  old  and  oft- 
told  tale,  and  is  only  referred  to  because  these 
events  have  had  an  important  bearing  on  the  pro- 
gress and  efficiency  of  the  Bechwana  Mission. 
They  resulted  in  that  enterprise,  so  far  as  the 
London  Society  is  concerned,  being  hemmed  in 
and  confined  to  the  tribes  which  skirt  the  desert, 
whose  country  was  not  sufficiently  attractive  to  the 
Boers  so  long  as  the  fertile  regions  to  the  north-east 
had  not  been  fully  taken  into  possession.  In  later 
years  the  German  and  Swiss  missionaries  have 
taken  up  the  work  in  what  is  now  the  Transvaal, 
and  are  bravely  coping  with  difficulties  incident  to 
a  state  of  society  in  which  their  people  are  not 
regarded  as  being  entitled  to  human  or  civil  rights. 

Livingstone  had  settled  with  the  Bakwena  of 
Sechele,  about  two  hundred  and  fifty  miles  from 
Kuruman.  They  also  lay  on  the  very  margin  of 
the  desert,  but  eastward  from  them  the  country  was 
well  wooded,  well  watered,  and  thickly  populated  ; 
for  the  Bechwana  tribes  had  returned  to  their  old 
places  after  the  departure  northward  of  Mosilikatse 
and  his  Matebele.  Livino^stone  reofarded  his  station 
at  Kolobeng  simply  as  a  basis  of  operations,  and  he 
was,  by  repeated  visits  to  the  eastern  tribes,  pre- 
paring the  way  for  a  large  extension  of  missionary 


272     ORIGIN  OF  THE  TRANSVAAL  STATE. 

work  in  that  direction.  He  had  met  with  much 
encouragement,  and  a  promising  field  for  enterprise 
was  opening  among  a  people  who  seemed  well 
disposed  to  the  gospel,  and  whose  language  was 
already  used  in  Moffat's  translation  of  the  Scrip- 
tures. Into  all  these  projects  the  Moffats  had 
entered  with  the  greatest  ardour,  and  they  viewed 
with  increasing  alarm  the  tide  of  Boer  emigration 
setting  in  from  the  Cape  Colony. 

In  1848  complications  arose  which  led  to  a  trial 
of  strength  between  the  forces  of  the  Government 
and  the  emigrants  beyond  the  Colonial  border.  Sir 
Harry  Smith,  then  Governor  at  the  Cape,  concen- 
trated his  small  force  at  Colesberg,  suddenly  crossed 
the  Orange  River,  and  in  a  short  and  sharp  engage- 
ment put  the  Boers  to  flight.  They  never  rallied, 
but  scattered  to  their  homesteads,  and  Sir  Harry 
annexed  the  country,  now  the  Orange  Free  State,  but 
at  that  time  the  Orange  River  Sovereignty.  Many 
of  the  Boers  settled  down  quietly  under  British  rule, 
but  the  more  irreconcilable  spirits  crossed  the  Vaal 
and  joined  those  who  had  already  carved  out  for 
themselves  a  country  in  the  territory  of  the  Bech- 
wana  and  Bapedi  tribes.  It  soon  became  apparent 
to  the  London  missionaries  that  all  hope  of  carrying 
on  their  work  in  that  region  was  over ;  and  it 
became  doubtful  whether  they  would  be  allowed  to 
retain  even  their  existing  stations.  It  was  incon- 
venient to  the  Boers  that  there  should  be  so  near 
men  who  were  able  to  give  testimony  to  the  civilized 
world  of  what  was  going  on  in  those  remote  regions  ; 
men  who  could  be  neither  cajoled  nor  intimidated 
into  silence.     It  is  probable  also  that  many  Boers 


THE  WORST  FEARS  CONFIRMED.         273 

did  actually  believe  in  the  charge  they  were  so  fond 
of  bringing  against  missionaries,  that  they  supplied 
the  natives  with  ammunition,  and  incited  them  to 
armed  resistance.  Like  many  other  falsehoods,  it 
lived  long  enough  to  do  its  evil  work  before  it  died 
of  its  own  absurdity. 

Under  these  circumstances  Livingstone,  looking 
for  an  outlet  for  the  expansion  of  the  Bechwana 
Mission,  turned  his  eyes  northwards,  and  thus  came 
about  that  series  of  explorations  which  absorbed  the 
remainder  of  his  life.  Mary  Moffat  writes  to  one 
of  her  children  in  January,  1849  : 

"When  I  wrote  to  Mr.  Mathew  I  told  him  that  our 
fears  about  the  Boers  in  the  interior  were  given  to  the 
wind,  that  they  were  quite  tamed,  acknowledged  the 
superior  power  of  the  English,  and  were  all  at  once 
become  very  civil  and  quiet  with  the  natives.  This  was 
our  latest  news,  and  so  easy  was  Mr.  Livingstone,  that 
he  was  going  to  send  Paulo  to  near  Magalies  Berg  to 
Mokhatla  forthwith.  But,  alas  !  it  appears  they  were  only 
pausing  to  consider  v/hat  they  would  do.  Yesterday  a 
letter  came  from  Joseph  Arend,  who  is  on  his  way  to 
Kolobeng  or  further  if  practicable.  He  found  the  people  at 
Sitlagole  all  in  commotion  about  the  Boers,  who,  they  say, 
are  forcibly  taking  possession  of  all  the  fountains  and  fine 
lands  of  the  Bahurutse  and  Bakhatla.  Mosega  and  Poe 
are  in  their  possession.  The  report  runs  that  they  first 
met  opposition  with  stroking  of  the  hand  ;  but  now  they 
have  recourse  to  their  guns,  so  that  the  natives  are  in 
despair.  It  is  said  that  the  Bakhatla  country  was  all  in 
an  uproar.  Now,  though  we  always  deduct  from  native 
reports  till  we  hear  from  a  missionary,  this  intelligence  has 
made  us  very  unhappy.  We  have  many  fears  for  our 
missions,  and  more  for  the  poor  natives.  We  can  scarcely 
hope  that  all  this  is  false,  but  shall  be  glad  to  find  it  so. 
If  it  be  true  we  shall  soon  hear,  and  shall  let  you  know  by 
the  first  opportunity." 

19 


274  MOFFAT S  SON  ROBERT  ON  THE  BOERS. 

Moffat's  elder  son,  Robert,  had  been  appointed, 
after  the  battle  of  Boomplaats  and  the  annexation 
of  the  Orange  River  Sovereignty,  as  one  of  the 
officials  in  the  new  territory.  The  first  years  of 
his  manhood  and  of  his  active  service  were  spent 
among  the  Boers,  with  whom  he  thus  became  well 
acquainted.  He  was  by  no  means  ready  to  condemn 
them  indiscriminately.  Indeed,  missionaries  were 
disposed  to  think  that  he  leaned  too  much  to  their 
favour.  In  the  light  of  the  following  quotation 
from  a  letter  to  his  father  this  would  hardly  appear 
to  have  been  the  case.  The  opinions  here  ex- 
pressed remained  unchanged  after  a  good  many 
years'  experience.* 

"  yannary,  1849. 

"  Since  I  last  wrote  you  matters  have  been  going 
on  as  usual.  I  have,  for  my  part,  been  inspecting  some 
hundred  and  ten  farms  in  this  district — not  surveying, 
but  pointing  out  beacons  and  settling  disputes  where  such 
arise.  I  must  say  that  I  have  had  a  very  trying  time 
of  it.  Among  the  farmers  I  have  been  treated  with  respect 
and  kindness,  so  that  I  have  no  need  to  complain.  But 
the  Boer  pride,  obstinacy,  and  ignorant  disaffection  are 
enough  to  eat  up  the  spirit  of  any  one  in  the  smallest 
degree  devoted  to  their  welfare.  With  all  my  arguments 
as  to  the  new  state  of  matters  in  this  vast  Colony,  with  all 
my  appeals  that  they  trek  no  more,  with  all  my  promises 
as  an  Afrikander  myself  among  them  to  bring  their  wants 
and  feelings  publicly  before  the  governor  and  council  of 
the  land,  they  remain  incredulous,  fomenting  fresh  ingrati- 
tude and,  it  may  be,  new  determinations.  To  my  mind 
they  are  the  most  peculiar  men  under  heaven.  My  mind 
has  been  so  absorbed  with  the  nature  of  their  proceedings, 
measures  for  the  amelioration  of  their  condition,  and  dread 
of  the  far  future,  not  only  as  it  concerns  them  and  their 
deluded  families,  but  the  fate  of  the  unhappy  thousands  of 
aborigines,  that  I  feel  dejected.     I  have  been  collecting  my 


THEIR  UNMANAGEABLE  DISPOSITION.    275 

thoughts,  but  I  find  the  subject  too  great  ;  for  where  will 
this  trekking  end  ?  It  will  appear  to  you  natural  that  I 
should  be  so  excited  on  these  subjects.  It  has  been  my 
lot  to  be  placed  alone,  as  an  English  official,  in  the  extreme 
district,  twice  the  size  of  any  of  the  others,  and,  what  is 
more,  bordering  on  the  very  sphere  of  rebellion.  Here  is 
a  tract  of  at  least  fifteen  thousand  square  miles,  watered 
on  one  side  by  some  two  hundred  and  fifty  miles  of  the 
Vaal  River  and  its  tributaries — the  Valsch,  the  Rhenoster, 
the  Eland,  and  Liebenberg's  Vley.  I  am  now  presenting 
a  report  to  headquarters,  with  a  chart  of  the  district,  that 
there  is  still  room  for  some  seven  hundred  new  farms  of 
three  thousand  morgen  each.  This  will  appear  almost  in- 
credible, but  I  am  prepared  to  prove  it.  Out  of  three 
hundred  cultivated  farms,  one  hundred  and  fifty  proprietors 
have  trekked.  Thus  it  may  be  said  that  there  is  room 
here  for  eight  hundred  and  fifty  additional  Boer  families, 
which  is  somewhat  less  than  the  total  number  beyond  the 
Vaal.  Is  it  not  a  lamentable  fact,  my  father,  that  with 
such  eligible  lands  in  the  immediate  neighbourhood  of  the 
Colony  so  many  should  be  prevailed  on,  by  an  ignorant 
pride  and  obstinacy,  to  trek  into  the  wild  jungle?  Where 
is  the  great  desideratum  ?  Who  is  at  fault  ?  The  Boers 
are  not  altogether  so  intractable.  They  have  a  measure  of 
religious  knowledge  culled  from  the  Bible  and  their  itinera- 
ting predikants,  but  they  have  been  degenerating  for  the 
last  ten  years,  and  if  Government  should  not  be  more 
decisive,  this  land  will  yet  have  to  deal  with  a  white  semi- 
barbarous  herd,  who,  with  a  still  prouder  obstinacy,  will 
resist  all  coercive  measures." 

Mary  Moffat  to  one  of  her  Children. 

March  2,    1849. 

"Now  I  have  some  sad  news  to  tell  }'ou.  The  Boers  in 
the  interior  have  written  to  the  Committee  of  our  missions 
here  insisting  on  Mr.  Livingstone's  being  immediately 
removed  to  the  Colony,  and  that  for  ever  !  They  add, 
if  the  Committee  does  not  comply  with  this  demand,  they 
will  carry  it  into  force  themselves.     Their  chief  reason  for 


276  THE  NATIVES  IN  A  DILEMMA. 

requiring  this  to  be  done  is,  that  though  he  knew  that  they 
had  issued  laws  that  no  coloured  person  should  possess  a 
gun  or  a  horse,  he  had  failed  to  give  them  information  of 
Sechele's  having  made  large  purchases  in  this  way.  The 
Boers'  letter  contains  many  palpable  untruths.  The 
brethren  here  have  written  to  let  them  know  that  the  sub- 
ject will  be  brought  before  the  Committee  at  its  next  meet- 
ing. The  Bakwena  seem  inclined  to  fight  for  it.  They 
say  they  must  die  at  all  events,  for  they  know  they  must 
do  so  or  give  up  their  arms  which  they  have  struggled  hard 
to  procure,  and  which  are  now  essential  to  their  subsistence, 
for  it  is  impossible  for  them  to  get  game  by  the  spear  in 
a  country  overrun  by  well-armed  Boers  with  abundance  of 
powder.  A  famine  is  expected  this  year,  as  the  drought  has 
been  excessive,  and  the  crop  of  native  grain  has  entirely 
failed.  It  is  the  fourth  year  of  scarcity,  but  exceeds  all 
the  rest.  Therefore  they  are  right  in  saying  they  must  die 
at  any  rate  if  deprived  of  their  firearms.  It  is  quite  plain 
that  this  ill-will  against  Sechele  arises  from  the  conviction 
that  he  is  a  superior  man,  who  by  his  attainments  threatens 
to  leave  them  in  the  rear,  and  this  is  intolerable  in  a  black 
man,  a  Kafir.  Sechele  is  marked  out  for  destruction,  the 
first  convert  to  Christianity  in  those  regions,  the  firstfruits 
of  the  Bakwena  Mission.  We  feel  very  disconsolate  on 
account  of  present  appearances,  for  without  a  direct  inter- 
position of  Providence  the  mi.ssion  will  be  broken  up." 

When  Livingstone,  in  despair  of  being  allowed 
to  work  eastward  from  Kolobeng,  turned  his 
thoughts  to  the  north,  the  prospect  was  not  attrac- 
tive. The  Kalahari  desert  seemed  to  bar  the  way. 
Beyond  the  Bakwena  lay  the  Bamangwato,  in  an 
isolated  position.  They  could  only  be  reached  by 
crossing  an  almost  waterless  country  for  a  hundred 
and  twenty  miles,  and  beyond  them  it  was  known 
that  the  country  was  if  anything  drier  still.  For 
some  years,  however,  faint  rumours  had  grown  more 


EXPLORATIOXS  OF  LIVINGSTONE.        277 

distinct  that  there  was  a  large  lake  far  to  the  north. 
In  1849  Livingstone  started,  in  company  with  two 
gentlemen  who  had  visited  the  country  for  hunting 
purposes — Murray  and  Oswell.  They  were  success- 
ful in  reaching  Lake  Ngami,  or,  more  correctly, 
Nghabe,  found  there  another  large  tribe  of  Bech- 
wanas,  an  offshoot  of  the  Bamangvvato,  known  as 
the  Botauana,  and  discovered  that  north  of  the 
Kalahari  desert  was  a  land  of  rivers  and  of  many 
and  diverse  populations. 

From  that  time  Livingstone  was  lost  to  the  Bech- 
wana  Mission.  He  returned  to  Kolobenor,  but  it 
was  with  the  determination  to  revisit  the  lake  in  the 
following  year.  His  travelling  companions  had 
been  of  the  greatest  assistance  to  him,  and  Oswell 
in  particular,  who  was  so  in  sympathy  with  him  that 
he  returned  to  the  Cape  only  to  make  preparations 
for  a  more  extended  journey. 

Meanwhile  Moffat  had  occasion  to  pay  a  visit  to  the 
Bakwena  country.  The  Boers  were  busy  with  dis- 
putes among  themselves,  and  the  western  Bechwanas 
were  for  a  time  left  in  peace.  Moffat's  journey  was 
for  the  purpose  of  accompanying  a  deputation  from 
home  which  had  come  out  to  look  into  South  African 
matters.  The  tour  was  an  extended  one.  On 
their  return  from  the  interior  the  travellers  visited 
Bloemfontein,  the  seat  of  government  in  the  new- 
territory.  An  endeavour  was  made  to  represent  to 
the  authorities  the  grave  state  of  affairs  in  the 
interior,  but  to  little  purpose.  An  era  of  irresolution 
had  commenced,  and  the  outcome  of  it  was  that  the 
Boers  took  courage,  and  found  that  they  could  act 
with  impunity. 


278     MR.  FREDOUX  TURNED  BACK. 

Mary  Moffat  to  Mrs.  Sheldon  of  Manchester^. 

July  23,  1850. 

"  The  interior  missions  are  in  a  sad  state.  The  rebel 
Boers  are  thorns  in  their  sides.  The  natives  are  grievously 
oppressed,  deprived  of  the  lands  of  their  fathers,  and 
driven  hither  and  thither  to  the  desert  regions.  Mission- 
aries are  forbidden  to  go  eastward,  and  edicts  are  issued  by 
the  Boers  to  the  different  native  chiefs  commanding  them 
'to  prevent  all  English  travellers  and  traders  from  pene- 
trating beyond  them,  while  they,  if  they  refuse,  will  be 
accounted  the  enemies  of  the  Boers.' 

"  Mr.  Fredoux,  a  French  missionary,  started  in  March  to 
go  north-east  to  visit  an  interesting  people  in  that  quarter 
who  have  three  times  sent  messengers  to  my  husband 
seeking  friendship.  Mr.  F.  thought,  as  he  was  not  an 
Englishman,  he  would  meet  with  no  opposition,  but  he  has 
come  home  thoroughly  convinced  that  it  is  not  Englishmen, 
but  the  friends  of  the  aborigines,  who  are  to  be  expelled 
the  country.  He  was  allowed  to  travel  among  the  Boers 
a  fortnight,  and  was  after  all  surrounded  on  a  Sabbath 
morning  by  a  host  of  Boers  on  foot  and  thirteen  horsemen, 
all  armed,  demanding  to  know  from  whence  he  was,  whither 
going,  and  what  to  do  .-*  On  telling  them  his  object  he 
was  strictly  ordered  to  go  no  further,  but  to  return  to  the 
place  from  whence  he  came.  He  got  leave  to  stop  for  the 
day,  till  he  should  have  written  orders  from  Pretorius. 
These  he  received  next  morning,  and  then  turned  home- 
wards with  a  sorrowful  heart. 

"  You  will  thus  sec  to  what  trials  and  discouragements  the 
missionaries  are  exposed.  It  may  truly  be  said, '  They  labour 
in  vain,  and  spend  their  strength  for  nought.'  The  natives 
are  confounded.  They  have  always  been  led  to  believe 
that  the  English  nation  is  not  only  powerful,  but  benevolent 
and  generous,  and  that  they  should  now  drive  away  their 
rebels  to  destroy  them  is  a  puzzle.  It  is  calculated  to  pro- 
duce a  degree  of  scepticism  as  regards  missionaries,  espe- 
cially as  it  has  been  judged  proper  and  prudent  for  the 
latter,  as  men  seeking  the  welfare  of  all  mankind,  to  be 
conciliatory  towards   the  Boers,  hoping  thus   to   prevent 


THE  NATIVES  PERPLEXED.  279 

hostility.  This  is  difficult  for  the  poor  barbarians  to  under- 
stand. Their  minds  are  distracted  ;  nor  do  they  pay  atten- 
tion to  the  instructions  imparted.  If  some  measures  are 
not  speedily  adopted  by  our  Government  it  seems  likely 
that  every  mission  in  those  regions  will  soon  be  broken  up. 
We  have  not  had  darker  prospects  for  twenty  years  than 
we  have  now.  Mr.  Livingstone  seems  inclined  to  go  to 
the  lake  ;  but  if  things  continue  as  they  are  he  will  have 
to  penetrate  from  the  west  coast." 


CHAPTER   XXVII. 

DARK  CLOUDS  WITH  A  SILVER  LINING. 
1850. 

LIVINGSTONE  did  not  fall  to  carry  out  his 
project  of  again  visiting  the  lake,  and  of  ex- 
tending his  explorations  to  a  considerable  dis- 
tance beyond.  He  had  the  company  of  his  friend 
Mr.  Oswell,  who  had  endeared  himself  to  the  Liv- 
ingstones and  the  Moffats.  He  was  one  of  those 
whose  influence  was  on  the  right  side,  calculated  to 
give  the  natives  a  high  esteem  for  the  English  cha- 
racter. On  this  expedition  Livingstone  had  with 
him  his  wife  and  family,  and  the  chief,  Sechele,  also 
accompanied  him,  not  without  the  idea  of  moving 
eventually  with  his  tribe  to  some  of  the  regions 
newly  opened  up,  so  as  to  avoid  the  collision  with 
the  Boers  which  all  felt  was  inevitable.  The  idea 
was  never  carried  out.  It  would  have  been  attended 
with  insuperable  difficulties. 

On  their  return  to  Kolobeng  the  travellers  were 
in  a  somewhat  reduced  condition,  particularly  Mary 
Livingstone  and  the  children.  Hearing  this,  her 
mother,  ever  on  the  alert,  set  off  once  more  alone 
to  carry  succour  and  supplies,  and  as  soon  as  con- 


TRANSLATION  AND  PRINTING  GO  ON.     281 

veiiient  prevailed  upon  the  Livingstones  to  return 
with  her  to  the  Kuruman  and  to  recruit  their  ex- 
hausted strength.  It  was  one  of  her  greatest  plea- 
sures, and  continued  to  be  to  the  end,  to  feel  that 
Kuruman  was  serving  the  purpose  not  only  of  a 
prosperous  missionary  station  in  itself,  but  of  a  basis 
of  operations  for  those  who  were  at  work  further 
into  the  interior.  Many  are  those  who  have  found 
its  value  in  this  respect. 

In  a  letter  to  his  friend.  Dr.  Bruce,  of  Newcastle, 
on  the  twentieth  of  March,  1851,  Moffat  says: 

"  We  are  getting  on  here  as  fast  as  we  can  in  what  we 
firmly  beHeve  is  the  work  of  God.  We  are  instant  in 
season  and  out  of  season  in  our  public  duties  and  in  the 
work  of  translation,  but  the  progress  is  slow,  very  slow. 
Could  I  obtain  a  competent  amanuensis  it  would  greatly 
facilitate  my  progress  in  translation.  The  printing  goes  on 
at  snails'  pace,  from  the  want  of  a  sufficient  quantity  of 
type,  and  the  want  also  of  compositors  on  whom  we  can 
depend.  One  is  taught,  and  perhaps  he  leaves  to  live  with 
friends  at  a  distance  ;  another  does  not  like  the  confine- 
ment; and  as  printing  is  only  one  section  of  the  round  of 
pressing  duties  which  devolve  on  the  missionary,  it  must 
frequently  wait  his  time.  Lately  a  new  edition  of  Isaiah, 
Proverbs,  and  Preacher  was  turned  off,  but  will  not  be  bound 
up  till  the  smaller  Prophets  are  also  printed.  We  have 
commenced  the  Pentateuch  :  Genesis,  Exodus,  Leviticus, 
and  Deuteronomy  are  ready.  Numbers  will  be  compara- 
tively light  work.  Translation  I  feci  to  be  hard  work,  and 
I  have  my  fears  that  my  head  will  not  stand  till  the  whole 
is  completed  ;  but  it  is  comforting  to  know  that  God  will 
carry  on  His  work  as  well  without  as  with  me. 

"  The  Livingstones  were  some  months  with  us,  and  have 
returned  improved  in  health.  It  is  probable  that  he  will 
visit  the  lake,  or  rather  Sebetoane,  the  ensuing  winter, 
accompanied  by  Mr.  Oswell. 


282    REASONS  FOR  NOT  WRITING  OFTENER, 

"  Although  a  war  with  the  Kafirs  has  been  raging  in  the 
Colony  for  nearly  three  months,  it  is  only  within  these 
few  days  that  we  have  received  papers  giving  us  an 
account.  Opportunities  between  the  nearest  post  office  at 
Colesberg,  two  hundred  and  fifty  miles  away,  and  this  are 
sometimes  few  and  far  between,  and  it  is  not  improbable 
that  you  hear  now  that  a  line  of  steamers  has  been  es- 
tablished sooner  than  we  do  here  of  the  war  and  of  the 
real  state  of  the  frontier.  There  can  be  no  doubt  but  in 
the  end  it  will  go  wofully  with  the  Kafirs  and  the  Hotten- 
tots, who  have  rebelled." 

Hilary  Moffat  to  her  Father. 

Jime  7,  1851. 

"  For  some  time  past  my  conscience  has  been  burdened 
for  not  writing  to  you  or  to  Mrs.  Sheldon,  but  I  have 
deferred  so  long  that  now  you  must  be  first  by  all  means. 
When  I  think  of  your  extreme  age,  and  how  frequently 
you  have  of  late  been  unwell,  I  am  ashamed  to  seem  to 
neglect  you  so ;  but  you  would  readily  excuse  me  if  you 
knew  how  difficult  it  is  for  me  to  get  a  quiet  hour,  and  my 
head  has  long  been  so  weak  that  when  disturbed  my  ideas 
leave  me.  I  miss  Ann  very  much  in  this  respect,  as  she 
used  to  take  charge  of  my  little  affairs  entirely  when  I 
wished  a  day  for  writing.  In  this  country,  if  the  mistress 
of  a  house  abstracts  herself  from  domestic  affairs,  all  hands 
seem  to  hold  up — they  seem  as  if  they  could  not  go  on 
without  propelling.  It  is  just  so  with  the  men  outside, 
which  Robert  feels  very  annoying  ;  for  though  we  have  not 
the  same  work  as  in  former  years,  having  now  only  our 
buildings  to  keep  in  repair,  yet  we  must  farm  and  garden 
to  keep  our  household  in  food,  for  now  we  cannot  be  snug 
as  people  can  in  England,  where  everything  can  be  pur- 
chased. How  gladly  would  we  retire  to  some  little  cot 
with  one  servant,  but  it  seems  that  we  must  drudge  on  to 
the  end  of  life  with  such  work. 

"  Robert  is  now  more  closely  engaged  at  translation  than 
at  any  former  period,  and  he  would  fain  let  everything  of 
a  secular  kind  alone,  and  purchase  for  our  wants;  but  this 


SLOW  PROGRESS  OF  THE  PEOPLE.        2S3 

is  so  precarious  in  this  dry  country  that  it  seems  a  pity  not 
to  use  our  fine  garden,  besides  which  it  is  certainly  con- 
ducive to  his  health,  however  irksome  he  may  feel  it  at 
the  time,  and  chiefly  on  this  account  I  persuade  him  to 
go  on  cultivating  the  ground.  He  has  for  some  time  past- — 
I  think  nearly  a  year — been  troubled  with  a  peculiar  affection 
of  the  head,  which  I  do  not  like.  It  is  a  constant  roaring 
noise  like  the  falling  of  a  cataract,  then  like  buzzing  or  boil- 
ing up  of  waters;  it  never  ceases  night  and  day,  though  he 
does  not  feel  it  when  entirely  absorbed  in  study,  but  the 
moment  he  gives  up  there  it  is  again.  When  preaching, 
it  is  also  absent.  He  loses  much  sleep  from  it.  He  has 
wanted  to  bleed  himself,  but  I  have  discouraged  it,  for 
there  is  no  appearance  of  fulness  about  him  ;  he  is  very 
abstemious,  and  takes  sparingly  of  nourishment.  A  cup 
of  coffee  too  much  will  increase  it. 

"  You  may  wonder  that,  after  our  long  residence  here, 
the  people  are  not  more  clever.  But  you  may  remem- 
ber our  station  was  composed  of  people  of  all  tribes, 
and  since  nu'ssionarics  have  gone  into  the  interior  some 
of  our  people  of  the  best  abilities  have  gone  back  to 
their  own  countries,  where  the  other  missions  reap  the 
advantage,  so  that  we  are  ever  teaching  fresh  ones.  And 
there  is  really  not  that  advancement  in  civilization  which 
we  did  expect.  They  are  content  with  such  small  attain- 
ments. Now  the  length  of  my  apology  will  surprise  you, 
but  I  hope  it  will  give  you  information  of  our  present 
circumstances. 

"  The  Lord's  goodness  to  yourself,  my  venerated  parent, 
is  very  great ;  how  far  He  has  exceeded  faith's  largest 
demands  !  I  have  not  forgotten  the  conflict  which  rent 
my  bosom  on  your  account  when  we  were  in  England, 
when  I  could  not  see  how  your  wants  were  to  be  supplied. 
At  that  time  I  heard  George  Clayton  preach  from  the 
words,  *  Man  shall  not  live  by  bread  alone.'  The  train  of 
his  ideas  was  exactly  suited  to  the  state  of  my  mind,  and 
thenceforth  I  endeavoured  to  believe  that  my  God  would 
supply  ail  your  need.  Unbelief  has  often  tried  to  drive  me 
out  of  this  stronghold.     I  have  feared  that  the  barrel  of 


284  THE  KAT  RIVER  REBELLION. 

meal  would  waste,  the  cruse  of  oil  would  fail  ;  but,  blessed 
be  God  !  He  continues  His  mercy — yea,  and  will  do  to 
the  end.  In  all  your  sickness  and  infirmities  you  have 
lacked  no  good  thing. 

"  You  will  hear  of  the  awful  state  of  the  Colony  from 
the  Kafir  war.  We  are  quite  confounded  by  the  Hottentot 
rebellion.  This  is  a  public  calamity  indeed,  and  will  be 
a  tremendous  blow  to  the  missionary  cause.  All  societies 
will  feel  it  for  a  long  time,  but  especially  our  own.  No 
doubt  all  these  things  will  be  thoroughly  investigated,  and 
all  sides  of  the  question  considered  ;  but  it  is  difficult  for 
us  to  see  how  it  is  possible  to  exculpate  them  from  heavy 
blame,  such  as  fills  the  mouths  of  blasphemers.  They  are 
now  pouring  out  their  rage  and  spite  against  missionaries, 
and  even  the  press  teems  with  taunts  and  reproaches.  The 
defection  of  the  Kat  River  Hottentots  has  depressed  our 
spirits  no  little  ;  besides  that,  the  missions  south-east  of  us, 
French  and  VVesleyan,  are  all  in  trouble. 

"There  is  much  to  discourage;  yet  we  feel  we  must  not 
despair.  I  was  a  few  days  ago  greatly  animated  by  a 
retrospect  which  seemed  to  force  itself  upon  me  at  our  last 
missionary  prayer-meeting.  The  first  verses  sung  were  of 
a  hymn,  a  pretty  good  translation  of  '  O'er  the  gloomy 
hills  of  darkness.'  My  thoughts  were  involuntarily  led 
back  to  the  time  when  I  first  heard  that  hymn  sung,  and 
to  the  same  tunc  too,  and  all  my  feelings  on  that  occasion 
seemed  to  be  revived.  This  was  at  Queen  Street  Chapel, 
Chester,  when  you,  my  dear  father,  went  to  Park  Gate,  and 
so  kindly  took  me  to  be  present  at  the  first  missionary 
meeting  held  in  our  part  of  the  country,  a  season  which  I 
never  shall  forget :  it  was  a  Bethel  to  my  soul.  The 
sermon  of  the  venerable  Dr.  Waugh,  or  rather  the  im- 
pression it  produced  then,  was  revived.  '  In  the  multitude 
of  my  thoughts  within  me,  thy  comforts  delight  my  soul,' 
was  his  text.  What  an  odd  subject,  thought  I,  for  a 
missionary  sermon,  but  he  soon  convinced  me  that  he 
could  not  have  found  a  better  in  the  whole  Bible. 

"  The  image  of  the  venerable  man  is  still  in  my  mind's 
eye.     He  was  full  of  pathos,  and  solemn  as  eternity;  he 


ENCOURAGEMENT  IN  THE  RETROSPECT.    2S5 

seemed  to  me  on  the  borders  of  the  heavenly  world  while 
describing  the  comforts  and  consolations,  the  blooming 
hopes  of  immortality,  possessed  by  every  real  Christian.  But 
the  effect  produced  was  by  the  contrast  he  then  drew — and 
such  a  contrast !  How  did  he  set  before  us  the  condition 
of  the  heathen  world  which  knew  not  God,  sunk  in  the 
filth  of  vice  and  gross  superstition,  without  hope  and  with- 
out God  in  the  world. 

"  My  mind  was  powerfully  affected.  I  was  very  young, 
and  had  not  the  slightest  prospect  of  joining  the  missionary 
band,  but  felt  that  the  cause  was  worth  a  thousand  lives. 
Now,  my  dear  father,  after  more  than  thirty  years  in  the 
service,  I  had  begun  to  despond  a  little,  but  on  that  evening, 
when  I  came  to  remember  how  we  found  the  whole  of  this 
country  north  of  the  Orange  River,  and  see  the  change 
wrought,  I  felt  ashamed  of  my  gloom.  We  found  these 
people  just  what  Dr.  Waugh  described  them  to  be.  Now 
we  can  say  that  we  believe  many  souls  have  passed  into 
glory.  There  are  native  teachers  in  different  parts  of  the 
country,  imparting  a  knowledge  of  reading  and  of  the 
first  principles  of  the  gospel.  There  are,  on  the  different 
stations,  thousands  who  can  read  the  oracles  of  truth,  and, 
as  you  know,  large  portions  of  that  sacred  Word  are  in  their 
hands.  All  these,  and  other  thoughts  of  the  same  kind, 
passed  rapidly  through  my  mind  after  the  singing  of  those 
verses  by  Christian  Bechwanas,  and  I  came  home  stronger 
in  my  hopes  and  expectations  for  the  kingdom  of  Christ  in 
poor  Africa  than  I  had  been  for  some  months. 

"  What,  thought  I,  if  these  results  had  been  set  before 
my  mind,  on  hearing  Dr.  Waugh,  as  the  fruit  of  the  labours 
of  but  a  few  missionaries,  should  I  h^ve  hesitated  for  a 
moment  about  joining  such  a  band  in  my  feeble  capacity 
as  a  female  ?  or  would  my  parents  have  refused  to  surrender 
me  >  No,  it  could  not  be  ;  and  now  should  we  all  rather 
feel  honoured  in  having  had  any  share  in  the  matter. 

"  Livingstone  is  again  away  to  the  lake,  intending  to 
seek  a  field  there,  or  rather  beyond  it.  He  seems  deter- 
mined to  get  out  of  the  reach  of  the  Boers.  We  have  been 
affected  on  hearing  of  the  death  of  so  many  of  the  servants 


286    THE  M  OFF  ATS  AND  THEIR  PARENTS. 

of  Christ  at  home,  just  when  they  seemed  to  us  so  much 
needed.  What  wonderful  things  you  have  hved  to  see. 
We  feel  intense  anxiety  for  the  newspapers  just  now,  from 
the  state  of  our  own  beloved  country  and  also  the  state  of 
the  Colony.  We  expect  a  batch  in  a  few  days  by  Hume's 
waggons,  the  letters  having  come  beforehand. 

"  I  find  that  Helen  sent  a  portrait  of  yourself  by  a  Mr. 
Galton,  who  was  to  have  come  here  but  changed  his  route, 
endeavouring  to  reach  the  lake  from  the  west  coast.  The 
portrait  he  sent  to  Colesberg  ;  there  it  got  into  careless 
hands,  and  has  lain  some  months  at  Griqua  Town.  I  hope 
soon  to  get  it,  however.  Mr.  Galton  and  party  left  the 
Cape,  1  think,  in  November,  and  we  hear  nothing  of  them 
since  they  arrived  at  Angra  Pequena.  .  .  . 

"  Now,  my  dear  father,  I  must  draw  to  a  close,  and  can- 
not but  feel  solemn  when  I  do  so,  always  thinking  this 
may  be  the  last  letter  I  shall  write  to  you.  You  will  not 
doubt  our  constantly  praying  for  you,  as  also  for  Moffat's 
mother.  She  is  now  in  her  eighty-fourth  year,  and  you 
are  both  constantly  borne  on  our  hearts  at  the  throne  of 
grace.  We  believe  that  He  who  has  led  you,  and  fed  you, 
and  guided  you  for  so  many  years,  will  be  with  you  when 
heart  and  flesh  fail.  His  rod  an  1  His  staff  shall  comfort 
you  !  Should  you  go  before  us,  we  shall  soon  follow  you 
if  we  have  grace  to  endure  to  the  end,  and  this  hope  takes 
away  the  pang  of  separation.  I  have  long  been  disposed 
to  congratulate  all  good  people  on  their  emancipation  from 
the  body  of  death." 

A  few  words  will  not  be  out  of  place  here  about 
the  rebellion  of  the  Kat  River  Hottentots  referred 
to  in  the  foregoing  letter.  It  was  truly,  as  Mary 
Moffat  says,  a  most  tremendous  blow  to  the  mis- 
sionary cause  in  South  Africa.  For  many  years  it 
remained  a  terrible  missile  in  the  hands  of  those 
who  wanted  one.  Nor  is  it  possible  to  say  that  the 
Hottentots   were   anything   but  ungrateful   and  in- 


THE  CASE  FOR  THE  HOTTENTOTS.       2S7 

fatLiated  rebels  against  a  government  which,  upon 
the  whole,  had  meant  well  and  done  well  by  them. 
But  there  was  another  side  of  the  question,  as  was 
conclusively  shown  by  the  late  Sir  Andries  Stocken- 
strom,  who,  in  his  place  as  a  Colonial  legislator, 
made  a  full  exposure  of  the  manner  in  which  these 
Hottentots  had  been  dealt  with,  and  subjected  to 
treatment  which  did  not  justify  their  rebellion,  but 
accounted  for  and  in  a  measure  excused  it. 

It  was  the  old  story — which,  unfortunately,  in 
South  Africa  is  ever  new.  Loyalty  to  Government, 
especially  on  the  part  of  natives,  is  a  dangerous  and 
unprofitable  virtue  ;  and  whilst  rebellion  too  often 
has  been  pampered  and  has  received  all  that  it 
sought,  the  loyal  have  been  left  to  suffer  for  their 
devotion.  It  can  hardly  be  expected  that  even 
Christianized  Hottentots  should  be  found  more 
faithful  to  an  alien  government  than  its  own  people. 
Their  constancy  was  overtaxed,  and  it  gave  way  ; 
but  it  is  a  fair  question  whether  these  misguided 
rebels  were  more  to  blame  than  those  whose  in- 
justice made  them  such. 

Mary  Moffat  to  one  of  her  Children, 

Oct.   23,   1851. 

"We  have  received  all  your  letters  per  steamer  up  to 
that  of  May,  which  arrived  early  in  August,  while  those  of 
March  and  April  came  only  on  the  5th  of  September. 
Our  letters  and  papers  come  with  strange  irregularity;  nor 
can  we  discover  where  the  fault  lies,  as  sometimes,  even 
when  people  are  at  Colesberg  on  the  arrival  of  the  post,  we 
get,  perhaps,  a  letter  or  two  of  a  late  date,  while  all  the 
English  papers  are  at  least  a  month  older.  Our  latest 
papers  now  are  of  the  7th  of  June,  and  these  came 
with   Mr.  Ashton,  who  was  there  himself  when   the  post 


288  KURUMAN   IN   ITS   BEAUTY. 

arrived.  Mr,  Bruce's  letter  of  May  gave  us  the  first  account 
of  the  opening  of  the  Great  Exhibition.  You  will  have 
heard  from  your  sisters  of  the  death  of  our  venerable  friend 
and  brother,  Mr.  Hamilton.  We  had  the  Fredouxs  here 
about  two  months,  which  was  a  relief,  as  we  did  not  feel  so 
much  the  blank  in  our  circle.  Truly  we  do  now  feel  lonely, 
and  should  be  glad  indeed  to  have  some  of  you  here,  but 
this  is  not  likely  for  a  permanency.  The  whole  country 
has  been  very  dry  ;  our  fine  grassy  street  was  one  mass  of 
loose  dust,  so  that  I  was  fatigued  by  walking  to  Mr.  Ashton's ; 
but  we  have  at  last  had  some  showers,  and  everything  looks 
splendid.  The  great  willow  tree  is  majestic  ;  the  syringas 
have  been  one  sheet  of  bloom  and  the  perfume  delicious  ; 
and  now  the  orange  trees  are  sending  forth  their  still  more 
grateful  scent.  The  pomegranate  hedge,  with  its  numerous 
scarlet  flowers,  exceeds  everything  ;  the  grass  is  again 
growing,  and  all  nature  looks  gay  at  the  Kuruman.  Many 
parts  of  the  valley  are  covered  with  corn,  and  others  soon 
will  be  with  maize  and  native  grain,  which  have  just  been 
sown.  I  regret  to  say  your  willow  is  dead  ;  it  did  not  like 
its  new  position.  A  syringa  tree  has  taken  its  place.  The 
cypress  you  procured  for  me  is  a  splendid  tree  ;  it  shall 
represent  you,  or  rather  the  time  of  your  departure.  It 
stands  between  the  fig-trees  and  the  house  where  the  print- 
ing rollers  are  kept. 

"  But,  alas  !  we  seem  to  want  something  to  make  us 
enjoy  these  beauties.  Not  one  of  you,  our  dear  children, 
to  flit  about  among  them.  Once  you  were  here,  but  now 
all  looks  so  sad  without  you  ;  and  dear  old  Mr.  Hamilton, 
too,  gone.  Well,  the  time  is  short,  and  if  we  never  again 
see  you  here  we  must  hope  to  meet  one  family  in  heaven." 

Robert  Moffat  to  Dr.  Bruce,  of  Newcastle. 

Oct.  30,   1 85 1. 

"Yours  of  May  the  12th  and  April  the  12th  I  have 
lying  before  me,  and,  to  my  shame,  unanswered.  Mrs. 
Moffat  has  from  time  to  time  jogged  my  memory,  but  you 
cannot  conceive  what  a  threefold  cord  it  requires  to  drag 
me  from  the  work  of  translation.     '  Next  time  '  has  been 


MOFFAT'S  LABOURS  IN  TRANSLATION.    2S9 

my  reply  ;  and  next  time  and  time  again  passes,  and  what 
may  be  deemed  the  little  exertion  of  writing  a  letter  is  left 
undone.  But  I  am  getting  more  nervous  in  the  work.  I 
feel  to  grudge  the  appropriation  of  any  mental  exertion 
apart  from  translation,  for  it  seems  impossible  to  redeem 
time  at  a  work  of  that  kind,  and  suitable  aids  are  not  to  be 
had  here  for  love  or  money.  Add  to  this  that  I  feel  my 
head,  usually  so  strong,  the  worse  for  wear,  and  it  is  giving 
unmistakable  evidence  that  its  best  days  are  gone  by.  This, 
of  course,  makes  me  most  anxious  that  the  remaining  time 
and  strength  be  devoted  to  a  work  a  sense  of  the  impor- 
tance of  which  increases  with  my  years,  and  which  I  hope 
most  ardently  to  see  one  day  finished.  To  you  I  need  not 
describe  the  extreme  difficulty  there  is  in  translating  that 
wonderful  book,  the  book  of  God,  into  a  language  the 
capabilities  of  which  have  not  yet  been  fully  tested.  While 
on  the  subject,  let  me  tell  you  that  at  present  (to-day)  I 
am  at  the  fourteenth  verse  of  the  twenty-first  chapter  of 
Numbers,  where  I  came  to  a  dead  halt  yesterday,  and  spent 
more  than  half  the  day  on  the  fourteenth  and  following 
verses,  examining  lexicons,  versions,  and  commentators. 
You  may  guess  the  time  it  takes  when  I  tell  you  that  before 
I  write  down  the  shortest  sentence  I  have  to  look  to  several 
translations  of  the  Bible  to  see  how  each  has  it  rendered. 
The  Dutch  is  a  valuable  translation  in  coming  nearest  to 
the  original.  Sometimes  the  pen  glides,  and  then  again  I 
am  bewildered,  and  that  frequently  with  passages  which  to 
a  plain  Bible  reader  would  appear  to  be  language  in  its 
simplest  form  ;  but  this,  of  course,  arises  from  the  character 
of  the  Sechwana.  .  .  . 

"  I  have  perhaps  said  more  on  this  subject  than  is  neces- 
sary, but  it  is  one  that  lies  near  my  heart.  We  are  thankful 
for  thus  having  work  which,  in  the  end,  we  trust  will 
redound  to  the  Divine  glory  in  the  conversion  of  souls. 
We  cannot  expect  to  see  a  redeemed,  or  rather  a  reformed, 
world.  The  Bible  must  be  read  in  every  language  from 
shore  to  shore.  We  have  this  comfort,  that  we  are  pre- 
paring material  for  future  aggression  on  Satan's  kingdom 
in    this   benighted    continent.      I    say  comforted,  for   our 

20 


290  HOPELESS  PROSPECTS. 

present  prospects  are  at  best  very  gloomy.  War  has  com- 
paratively destroyed  missionary  labour  in  Kafirland,  and 
its  baneful  influence  has  extended  through  every  Colonial 
station.  The  demon,  as  is  usual,  has  cast  his  baleful 
shadow  on  other  tribes,  so  that,  with  the  exception  of  a 
few  isolated  spots,  the  public  mind  is  in  one  ferment  from 
Walwich  Bay  on  the  west  to  Delagoa  or  Natal  on  the  east. 
As  you  may  have  learned,  there  has  been  a  rumpus  of  a 
rather  sanguinary  character  in  the  sovereignty  between 
native  tribes  and  the  British  power  at  Bloemfontein,  in 
which  the  latter  will  likely  be  compelled  to  come  to  an 
agreement  of  peace  on  easier  terms  than  are  generall> 
offered  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet,  but  minus  that  little 
bit  of  a  thing  misnamed  honour.  Then  there  are  the 
native  tribes  looking  at  each  other,  as  the  Bechwanas  say, 
with  cat's  eyes. 

"  The  prospects  of  our  missions  among  the  Bahurutse, 
Bakhatla,  and  Bakwena,  are  melancholy.  According  to 
human  observation  scarcely  anything  has  been  achieved, 
and  to  all  appearance  a  dark  and  gathering  cloud  will  soon 
burst  over  them,  and  frustrate  any  effort  to  save  the  natives 
in  either  soul  or  body.  They  are  prostrate  before  the  over- 
whelming power  of  the  insurgent  Boers.  These  would  be 
speedily  expelled  were  the  natives  unanimous,  but  they 
are  the  very  reverse.  An  unusual  blindness  prevents  their 
looking  at  the  future.  Present  existence  is  all  they  think 
of.  An  independent  spirit  is  a  very  rare  thing  among 
them.  For  nearly  two  generations  they  have  been  scat- 
tered and  peeled.  Sechele  is  an  exception  to  the  general 
spirit,  and,  if  all  be  true  we  hear,  the  Boers  are  meditating 
his  reduction,  and  perhaps  destruction. 

"  Livingstone  and  Oswell  were  in  Sebetoane's  country  by 
last  accounts,  north-east  of  the  Ngami  lake.  Think  only 
what  a  journey  for  a  wife  and  children.  We  shall  wonder 
and  be  very  thankful  if  they  all  come  back  safe.  How 
mysterious  are  the  dealings  of  our  heavenly  Father,  how 
immutable  His  government.  It  humbles  us,  for  it  shows 
us  how  blind  we  are  as  to  the  agency  He  employs  for  the 
accomplishment  of  what  will  be  for  His  own  glory  ;  for  we 


REASONS  FOR  NOT  TAKING  SICK  LEAVE.   291 

know  that  the  Judge  of  all  the  earth  will  do  right.     Well ! 
it  is  ours  to  labour  and  to  pray,  and  His  to  bless." 

Robert  Moffat  to  Dr.  Tichnan. 

Nov.  22,   1852, 

"  I  have  to  acknowledge  yours  of  the  14th  of  July.  I 
feel  deeply  sensible  of  the  kindness  of  the  Directors  in 
their  expressions  of  sympathy  with  me  under  my  present 
circumstances,  and  their  generous  offer  to  supply  whatever 
want  might  arise  in  the  carrying  into  effect  what  they 
recommend  for  my  recovery  and  future  usefulness.  Although 
of  their  kind  and  fraternal  regard  I  have  never  had  cause 
to  doubt,  I  am  nevertheless  gratified  with  the  assurance 
they  have  given  me  of  their  entire  willingness  to  become 
responsible  for  any  necessary  expenses  which  a  journey  to 
and  a  sojourn  at  the  coast  might  involve.  What  could  I 
desire  more,  as  this  relieves  my  mind  entirely  on  a  point 
on  which  I  should  have  felt  considerable  embarrassment. 
For  this  information  please  present  my  heartfelt  thanks 
to  the  Directors,  whose  confidence  in  me  I  trust,  through 
Divine  grace,  will  never  cause  a  shadow  of  regret. 

"  While,  however,  I  might  be  influenced  by  the  advice 
of  those  who  are  better  able  to  judge  of  my  health  than 
myself  to  remove  to  the  coast  for  a  short  season,  my  present 
circumstances  are  such  as  to  render  the  thing  almost  im- 
practicable. Nay,  I  conceive  it  would  be  highly  improper 
unless  the  exigency  were  much  greater  than  I  think  it  is. 
I  shall  endeavour  briefly  to  state  my  reasons,  the  cogency 
of  which  will  be  cheerfully  corroborated  by  my  brethren 
Livingstone  and  Ashton,  however  much  they  could  desire, 
and  do  desire,  my  restoration  to  perfect  health  and  pro- 
longed service  in  the  Bechwana  Mission.  The  state  of  the 
country  is  such  as  it  has  not  been  since  I  entered  the  field. 
The  violent  opposition  of  the  tribes  to  the  introduction  of 
the  gospel  during  the  early  years  of  the  mission,  the 
threatened  destruction  by  the  hordes  of  Mantatees,  and 
the  successful  and  devastating  inroads  made  by  the  mixed 
freebooters,  Koran nas,  Griquas,  and  Bushmen,  appear  now 
in  our  eyes  as  mere  gusts  com]:)ared  to  the  storm   which 


292  THE  BOERS  TRIUMPHANT. 

threatens  to  sweep  away  all  the  labours  of  missionaries 
and  philanthropists  to  save  the  aborigines  from  annihila- 
tion. This  is  a  time  when  all  the  wisdom,  caution,  and 
firmness  that  can  be  called  into  action  are  required.  We 
need  all  the  heads  we  have,  even  were  they  sevenfold 
better  than  they  are,  with  fervent,  persevering  prayer  that 
the  Divine  Spirit  would  lift  up  a  standard  against  the 
approaching  enemy. 

"  The  mission  among  the  Bakwena,  commenced  by 
Livingstone,  and  latterly  under  the  care  of  a  native  teacher, 
is  a  scene  of  solitude,  brooding  over  ashes  and  dead  men's 
bones  ;  while  Sechele  and  his  followers,  who  escaped  the 
balls  of  the  Boers,  are  in  the  fastnesses  of  a  neighbouring 
mountain,  suffering  from  want,  their  supplies  having  been 
taken  or  destroyed  by  the  enemy.  The  Bakhatla  of  Ma- 
botsa  have  been  attacked,  many  slain,  and  the  survivors 
scattered  in  the  desert  wilds.  The  Bahurutse  of  Mathebe^ 
the  third  missionary  station,  are  prostrate,  because  on  the 
side  of  their  oppressors  there  is  power.  Our  two  native 
teachers  among  the  Bangwaketsi,  as  well  as  the  one  with 
the  Bakwena,  have  had  to  retire  with  much  loss  of  property. 
The  Barolong  on  the  Lotlakane,  among  whom  Mr.  Ludorf, 
a  Wesleyan  missionary,  was  living,  have  fled  to  the  west- 
ward, and  Mr.  L.  is  on  his  way  southward,  seeing  no  pos- 
sibility of  continuing  his  labours. 

"  The  Boers  can  give  no  reason  whatever  for  all  this, 
except  it  be  that  all  the  aborigines  must  become  their 
vassals  ;  and  they  conceive  that  they  have  a  special  right 
to  engage  in  wars  and  to  dispossess  chiefs  of  the  lands  of 
their'  forefathers,  on  account  of  the  late  treaty  between 
them  and  the  British  Government,  in  which  their  inde- 
pendence north  of  the  Vaal  River  is  acknowledged  and 
proclaimed.  Every  act  of  rapine  and  bloodshed  is  carried 
on  with  the  excuse  that  the  country  is  theirs  by  authority 
of  the  Queen  of  England.  This  strange  note  jars  horribly 
on  the  ears  of  the  natives.  Their  estimation  of  the  English 
was  once  very  high.  Such  is  the  present  state  of  the 
country  beyond  us,  and  how  near  the  enemy  may  approach, 
or   how   soon    this  quarter  may  be  visited  with  the  dire 


SECHELE'S  CONFIDENCE  IN  M  Of  FAT.    293 

calamities  which  have  befallen  others,  is  hidden  from  our 
eyes.     We  look  to  Him  that  is  higher  than  the  highest. 

"  The  state  of  things  as  above  described  renders  it  next 
to  impossible  for  me  to  leave  at  the  present  time.  Again, 
in  addition  to  the  charge  of  Scchele's  children  whom  he  sent 
to  my  care  for  their  education  eight  months  ago,  he  also 
sent  hither,  after  the  attack  of  the  Boers,  his  wife  and  little 
ones,  with  a  considerable  retinue  for  safety.  These  are  all 
on  my  premises,  and  are  to  a  considerable  extent  depen- 
dent on  me  for  supplies.  Such  entire  confidence  in  us  we 
reciprocate  with  pleasure  from  a  persuasion  that  it  will 
hereafter  turn  to  the  furtherance  of  the  gospel  We  feel  as 
if  we  could  not  on  any  account  abandon  our  charge. 
Again,  there  is  the  work  of  translation,  which  appears  to 
me  paramount  to  everything  else.  My  buzzing  head  does 
not,  I  think,  retard  progress,  though  it  may  render  the 
work  more  laborious.  The  closer  I  stick  to  the  work  the 
less  inconvenience  I  feel.  Were  I  to  leave  my  mind  to 
take  its  own  swing  it  would  think  of  nothing  else,  and 
would  break  down  altogether.  As  it  is  I  have  scarcely 
time  to  think  of  anything  but  what  must  be  thought  of 
earnestly  and  perseveringly  ;  and  in  doing  so  I  find  the 
most  relief.  I  am  going  to  resume  attention  to  the  sug- 
gestions  of  Mr.  E.  Pye  Smith.  To  him  I  feel  extremely 
thankful,  and  also  to  the  Rev.  Mr,  Ellis,  for  the  pains  they 
have  taken." 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

MOFFAT S  THIRD  JOURNEY  TO  MOSTLIKATSE. 

1853. 

AS  may  be  seen  from  foregoing-  extracts,  mis- 
sionaries in  Bechwanaland  were  going 
through  a  period  during  which  their  faith 
was  heavily  taxed.  With  the  exception  of  the 
neighbouring  station  of  Motito,  where  Fredoux  re- 
presented the  Paris  Society,  Kuruman  had  again 
become  the  northernmost  outpost  of  missions  on 
the  road  to  the  interior.  Ludorf  had  retired  in 
despair,  his  Barolong  under  Montswe  having  fled 
to  the  desert.  Edwards  and  IngHs  had  been  de- 
ported by  the  Boers,  and  warned  never  again  to 
enter  Bechwanaland.  Livingstone  had  penetrated 
the  enormous  and  unknown  region  on  the  Upper 
Zambezi,  and  was  practically  lost  to  Bechwanaland, 
and  indeed  to  South  Africa. 

But  Moffat  and  Ashton  went  on  with  their  work 
at  Kuruman.  With  the  former  the  desire  to  com- 
plete the  translation  of  the  whole  Scriptures  into  the 
Sechwana  language  had  become  almost  a  devouring 
passion,  now  that   he   saw   the  people  capable  not 


DEATH  OF  MARY  MOFFATS  FATHER.    2:5 

only  of  learning  to  read,  but  of  reading  with  in- 
telligence what  was  printed.  Hamilton  had  been 
gathered  to  his  rest.  Ross  and  Helmore  were  on 
the  Vaal  River  with  the  Batlaping.  Moffat  stood 
alone  of  the  old  pioneers.  His  three  coadjutors 
were  of  a  later  generation.  But  his  ardour  was  not 
diminished,  though  he  sorrowfully  confess  d  that  he 
was  beginning  to  feel  older.  Little  did  he  think 
then  that  he  was  to  survive  two  of  these  compara- 
tively youthful  comrades  by  more  than  twenty  years, 
as  well  as  his  son-in-law,  Fredoux,  of  Motito,  and 
his  own  son  Robert,  who  at  this  time  was  striving 
as  a  Government  ofiicial  to  serve  and  benefit  the 
natives. 

Towards  the  end  of  1853  ^^e  tidings  reached  Mary 
Moffat  that  her  beloved  father  had  ended  his  pil- 
grimage of  ninety  years.  Born  in  1763  at  Dunkeld, 
the  son  of  a  Highland  farmer,  he  grew  up  deeply 
imbued  with  the  Covenanter  spirit,  every  mountain 
and  glen  reminding  him  of  his  persecuted  forefathers. 
After  attaininp-  the  age  of  manhood  he  set  his  face 
southward,  and  eventually  settled  in  Lancashire, 
having  married,  in  spite  of  his  anti-episcopal  lean- 
ings, Mary  Gray,  a  lady  of  that  communion,  a 
woman  of  strong  piety.  He  himself  came  under 
the  influence  of  Roby,  of  Manchester,  and  became  a 
decided  Christian  and  an  ardent  promoter  of  the 
cause  of  missions.  It  was  a  severe  trial  to  his 
attachment  to  that  cause  to  be  called  upon  to  part 
with  his  only  daughter  ;  but  after  a  struggle  he  and 
his  wife  gave  her  up.  Her  mother  did  not  live  long 
enough  to  see  how  highly  honoured  her  daughter 
was  to  become  ;  but  he  was  privileged  for  more  than 


296  MOFFAT'S  FAILING  HEALTH. 

thirty  years  to  watch  her  labours,  and  to  thank  God 
that  he  had  been  able  to  consecrate  her  to  this  work. 
Between  father  and  daughter  during  the  whole  of 
that  period  there  subsisted  a  most  tender  affection, 
which  neither  time  nor  distance  seemed  to  cool.  In 
his  early  days  a  prosperous  man,  he  was  latterly 
impoverished  by  the  fault  of  others ;  but  by  the 
kindness  of  some  of  the  most  faithful  friends  who 
ever  graced  that  name  he  was  never  allowed  to 
want ;  and  though  bereft  of  all  his  children,  he  was 
attended  to  the  last  hour  of  his  life  by  one  who  had 
served  his  departed  wife,  and  had  promised  her 
never  to  leave  him.  For  twenty  years  she  dis- 
charged her  trust,  until  the  dav  when  she  stood  at 
his  grave  with  a  little  company  of  those  who,  for 
his  own  and  for  his  daughter's  sake,  had  tenderly 
watched  over  him  in  his  declining  years,  and  amply 
made  up  for  the  absence  of  his  own  kindred,  who 
were  represented  by  two  of  his  grandchildren  only. 

It  was  becoming  apparent  that  intense  application 
to  the  work  of  translating:  the  Old  Testament  was 
telling  upon  Moffat's  health  in  a  manner  that  could 
not  be  misunderstood.  He  had  again  and  again 
received  a  cordial  invitation  from  the  Directors  of 
the  Society  to  intermit  his  work  and  to  pay  a  visit 
to  the  coast,  or  even  to  England  ;  but  his  eyes  were 
turned  towards  the  interior.  Northwards  there  was 
no  European  representative  of  the  Church.  Two  or 
three  native  teachers  were  all  that  remained,  and 
their  footing  was  precarious,  to  remind  men  of  the 
late  missions  among  the  Bahurutse,  Bakhatla,  and 
Bakwena,  which  had  been  swept  away  by  the  Boers. 
Moffat  could  not  but  think  with  sadness  of  the  doors 


MOSILIKATSE'S  MOVEMENTS.  297 

lately  so  wide  open  now  closed  to  the  gospel. 
Aj^ain,  the  question  was  beginning  to  arise,  What 
had  become  of  Livingstone,  who  so  long  before  had 
started  for  Linyanti,  and  of  whom  nothing  was 
known  at  Kuruman  but  that  he  had  in  a  sense 
burnt  his  boats  by  sending  back  the  native  servants 
who  had  accompanied  him  from  the  south,  and 
was  thus  perfectly  alone  among  the  tribes  on  the 
Zambezi  ? 

In  addition  to  all  this  messages  had  been  coming 
of  late  years  from  Mosilikatse,  chief  of  the  IMatebele, 
to  his  old  friend  Moshete,  or  Ramary.  It  will  be 
remembered  that  some  fifteen  years  before  Mosih- 
katse  had  emigrated  northwards,  and  had  drifted  out 
of  ken.  The  advancing  explorers  of  later  years 
ascertained  that  he  had  settled  in  the  country  on 
the  southern  watershed  of  the  Zambezi  River,  and 
roving  bands  of  IMatebele  had  been  met  on  the  out- 
skirts of  the  country.  The  predatory  disposition  of 
the  tribe  had  made  it  impossible  for  them  to  have 
any  immediate  neighbours  ;  and  the  Matebele  were 
thus  secluded  from  the  world  by  a  zone  of  unin- 
habited country  roamed  over  by  game  and  beasts  of 
prey.  Not  long  after  his  departure  to  this  remote 
region  the  Boers,  emboldened  by  what  seemed  to 
them  a  sign  of  fear,  had  thought  by  a  rapid  and  well- 
organized  expedition  to  make  a  raid  into  the  new 
country  which  Mosilikatse  had  chosen  for  his  re- 
treat. At  first  it  seemed  as  though  they  would  be 
successful,  but  in  a  few  hours  the  alarm  was  sounded 
far  and  wide,  and  the  invaders,  or  rather  their 
advance  party  on  horseback,  found  it  necessary  to 
abandon  what  spoil  in  cattle  they  had  obtained,  and 


298        MOFFAT  SETS  OUT  TO  VISIT  HIM, 

the  expedition  returned  with  the  conviction  that,  for 
the  present  at  least,  the  Matebele  were  best  left 
alone ;  and  for  years  after  even  their  whereabouts 
became  a  matter  of  uncertainty. 

In  the  month  of  May,  1854,  Moffat  again  bid 
farewell  for  a  season  to  his  faithful  partner.  It  was 
a  great  relief  to  her  anxieties  that  he  was  provided 
with  very  suitable  and  pleasant  company.  Two 
young  men — one  the  late  James  Chapman,  and  the 
other  Samuel  Edwards,  son  of  Edwards  the  mis- 
sionary, long  Moffat's  coadjutor  at  Kuruman — were 
to  accompany  him  for  purposes  of  trade.  He  was 
not  as  strong  as  he  had  been  in  times  past  ;  the 
journey  was  to  a  comparatively  unknown  country 
seven  or  eight  hundred  miles  away,  and  might  be 
extended  even  further,  and  he  would  in  all  pro- 
bability, as  proved  actually  the  case,  not  see  the  face 
of  a  single  white  person  from  his  departure  to  his 
return,  except  of  those  who  went  with  him.  Their 
company  proved  most  acceptable  and  helpful  to  him, 
and  they  in  turn  obtained  access  for  trade  to  a 
country  from  which  they  must  otherwise  of  necessity 
have  been  excluded. 

It  was  necessary  for  them  to  keep  a  westerly  route 
in  order  to  avoid  as  far  as  possible  interception  by 
the  Boers,  who  had  declared  that  no  Englishman, 
whether  trader  or  missionary,  should  travel  into  the 
interior  without  their  permission,  which  in  this  case 
would  certainly  not  have  been  given.  The  route 
lay  within  the  confines  of  the  Kalahari  Desert,  and 
involved  dragging  for  days  through  heavy  sand  and 
with  great  scarcity  of  water.  At  Kanye  the  travellers 
found  the  various  sections  of  the  Bangwaketsi  tribe, 


VISITING  CHIEFS  BY  THE  WAY.         299 

who  had  for  years  been  scattered,  again  reunited  on 
the  spot  where  long  before  Moffat  had  visited  the 
chief  Makaba.  This  circumstance  is  a  remarkable 
instance  of  a  feature  characteristic  of  the  Bechwanas. 
The  Bangwaketsi,  themselves  at  one  time  a  domi- 
nant and  warlike  tribe  under  Makaba,  were  scattered 
in  the  great  battle  in  which  he  fell,  encompassed  by 
a  host  of  invaders  from  the  east.  Scarcely  had  his 
people  recovered  from  this  crushing  blow  when  they 
were  again  driven  into  exile  by  the  onslaught  of  the 
Matebele,  and  scattered  in  parties,  hundreds  of  miles 
apart,  mostly  as  refugees  with  other  tribes.  Yet  in 
the  course  of  time  they  were  to  be  found  gathered 
together,  a  compact  people,  under  the  grandson  of 
Makaba,  on  the  same  spot.  A  similar  history  might 
be  given  of  nearly  all  other  Bechwanas. 

Above  the  frowning  precipices  of  LIthubaruba 
Moffat  found  Sechele  and  his  people.  They  had 
retired  to  this  mountain  fastness  after  the  attack  of 
the  Boers  at  Kolobeng.  Sechele  was  in  a  position 
of  more  than  ordinary  difficulty.  His  teacher, 
Li\  'nofstone,  had  been  taken  from  him,  and  he  was 
alone,  or  almost  alone,  among  his  people  as  a  Chris- 
tian. After  the  attack  of  the  Boers  he  had  made 
the  journey  all  the  way  to  Cape  Town  to  lay  the 
case  before  the  Queen's  representative,  confident  in 
the  justice  of  his  cause.  He  had  been  coldly  re- 
ceived, and  had  been  led  to  believe  that  the  English, 
whom  he  had  always  hitherto  regarded  as  the  faith- 
ful friends  of  the  black  man,  were  in  sympathy 
rather  with  his  oppressors.  Had  it  not  been  for  the 
steady  and  consistent  friendship  of  those  at  the  Cape 
who  were  missionary  at  heart,  he  would  have  found 


300      SECHELE'S  ANOMALOUS  POSITION. 

himself  a  destitute  stranger  in  a  strange  land.  In 
after  years  he  was  never  tired  of  telling  of  the  kind- 
ness of  these,  particularly  the  Rev.  William  Thomp- 
son, whose  judicious  advice  and  aid  were  of  untold 
value  to  him.  He  came  back  to  his  own  people  to 
find  his  influence  as  a  chief  impaired.  He  was  dis- 
credited as  the  friend  of  the  white  people,  at  whose 
hands  the  Bechwana  tribes  were  suffering  these 
things.  He  had  already  severely  tried  the  patience 
of  the  great  heathen  majority  of  his  people  by  his 
adoption  of  Christianity  and  his  violation  of  the 
unwritten  law  of  custom,  which  was  a  sort  of  religion 
to  them  in  the  absence  of  any  other.  It  was  won- 
derful that  he  clung  tenaciously  to  the  faith  into 
which  he  had  been  baptized  by  Livingstone.  It 
was  not  wonderful  that,  while  trying  to  be  at  once 
chief  and  teacher,  he  swerved  from  the  high  standard 
required  in  converts,  and  that  there  was  too  much 
diplomacy  and  paltering  with  heathenism. 

Moffat's  heart  was  grieved  by  much  that  he  saw 
and  heard  ;  he  forbad  the  chief  to  continue  his 
ministrations  from  the  pulpit,  and  arranged  for  a 
native  teacher  to  take  up  his  abode  in  the  Bakwena 
town  until  the  way  appeared  more  clearly.  He  then 
went  on  his  way  across  a  hundred  and  twenty  miles 
of  desert  country  to  Shoshong,  the  residence  of 
Sekhomi,  chief  of  the  Bamangwato  tribe.  From 
Shoshong  he  had  to  cross  a  wilderness  without  road 
or  chart.  Sekhomi  for  his  own  reasons  was  un- 
willing to  let  the  way  be  opened  to  Matebeleland, 
but  confined  himself  to  withholding  guides  and 
warning  the  few  scattered  Bushmen  and  Bakalahari 
on  in  front  against  giving  aid.     Consequently  the 


TRAVELLERS  GROPING  THEIR  WAY.     301 

travellers  had  to  betake  themselves  to  the  use  of  the 
compass,  directing  their  course  over  an  unknown 
country  in  a  general  north-easterly  direction. 

For  eighteen  days  they  groped  their  way  through 
a  region  new  to  them  all,  but  in  spite  of  Sekhomi's 
prohibition  they  received  some  guidance  from  the 
scattered  children  of  the  wilderness,  of  whom  they 
met  with  a  few  even  in  this  desolate  land,  until  they 
had  crossed  the  Shashe,  a  broad  river-bed  filled 
with  white  crystalline  sand,  after  crossing  which 
they  had  to  trust  to  their  own  ingenuity.  The  fol- 
lowing extracts  from  Moffat's  journal  will  give  some 
idea  of  their  travelling  : 

^^  July  ZtJi,  Saturday. — Our  guides  returned,  and  we  pro- 
ceeded in  the  direction  they  had  pointed  out,  but  they 
professed  not  to  know  the  country  beyond.  We  had  not 
gone  far  before  we  found  ourselves  embayed  in  hills,  with  a 
river  on  the  left,  the  banks  of  which  would  not  allow  us  to 
pass.  After  some  twisting  and  turning  and  running  to  the 
tops  of  hills  to  look  out,  we  got  on  till  we  were  again 
obliged  to  turn  down  to  the  riv^er  or  to  retrace  our  steps 
and  strike  out  in  another  direction.  The  bed  of  sand  was 
about  twenty  yards  across,  plenty  of  water  in  pools 
and  hollows,  but  the  passage  down  the  bank  was  bad. 
After  crossing  the  river  we  found  the  other  side  with 
our  course  northward  good.  We  halted  at  noon  to  allow 
the  oxen  to  drink,  as  they  had  had  no  water  since 
yesterday  morning,  and  we  were  uncertain  about  the 
future.  We  afterwards  continued  our  course,  but  finding 
it  lead  us  too  far  to  the  left  we  struck  into  an  opening  in 
the  hills  through  which  we  passed  with  difficulty,  cutting 
down  trees  and  rolling  stones  out  of  the  way,  but  the 
waggons  had  to  rattle  over  boulders  hid  in  the  long  grass 
through  which  we  have  sometimes  to  wade  as  if  through 
water.  After  struggling  on  till  near  sunset  we  halted 
within   reach  of  the  river,  surrounded    by  hills  near  and 


302         SABBATH  IN  THE  WILDERNESS. 

distant,  but  no  signs  of  human  abode  or  of  any  living  thing 
except  a  solitary  bird.  In  one  or  two  places  we  saw  where 
human  beings  must  have  bivouacked  long  ago,  but  with 
the  exception  of  an  occasional  jackal  or  hyaena  howl  all  is 
silence  and  solitude. 

"July  gt/i,  Sabbath. — This  morning  the  wind  as  usual 
strong  from  the  east,  with  a  thick,  gloomy  sky,  as  if  it 
would  be  a  pour  of  rain.  It  continued  cloudy  most  of  the 
day.  About  an  hour  before  sunset  the  under  clouds  cleared 
away,  and  the  upper  layer  collected  away  eastward,  over 
which  a  bright  moon  rose  to  cheer  us,  for  her  presence  is 
most  welcome  to  travellers  in  a  land  like  this.  We  had 
our  services  as  usual.  We  could  see  nothing  human  in  the 
hills  and  vales  around.  It  is  ten  days  since  we  saw  an 
abode  or  hut.  It  is  comforting  to  feel  assured  that  we 
have  been  remembered  to-day  by  God's  praying  people  at 
the  Kuruman. 

''^  July  \oth. — After  examining  our  course  and  the  rocky 
descent  to  the  river  Enkwezi,  and  the  rather  suspicious- 
looking  hills  beyond,  we  resolved  not  to  run  the  very  great 
risk  of  getting  our  waggons  broken.  While  getting  all 
things  ready  one  of  the  men  was  sent  ahead  to  examine  a 
northerly  course  through  some  hills  of  coarse  sandstone. 
He  returned  with  a  favourable  report,  and  we  started 
northward,  with  a  good  deal  of  winding  to  avoid  trees  and 
large  blocks  of  stone  which  ever  and  anon  lay  in  our  path. 
After  travelling  some  miles,  and  having  again  turned  into 
another  opening  in  the  hills  in  a  nortii-easterly  direction, 
footpaths  were  seen,  and  soon  after  voices  were  heard  in  a 
defile.  Sam  and  another  proceeded  on  horseback  to  the 
spot,  and  came  upon  some  Bamangwato,  who  appeared  at 
first  sadly  afraid,  but  were  induced  to  come  to  the  waggons. 
We  gave  them  some  flesh  of  a  gnu  we  had  shot,  and  got 
two  of  them  to  direct  us  to  a  large  village  of  the  same 
people,  where  there  was  one  of  Mosilikatse's  Indunas  and 
some  cattle.  With  grateful  hearts  we  saw  that  all  was 
right,  and  that  much  sooner  than  we  had  expected." 

In  spite  of  their  anxiety  to  proceed  it  was  several 


MOSILIKATSE  AGED  AND  DECREPIT.    303 

days  before  the  travellers  reached  headquarters. 
The  Induna  in  charge  of  the  outpost  was  sadly 
exercised  in  his  mind.  The  long-looked -for  friend 
of  Mosilikatse  had  indeed  come,  but  the  Induna  was 
afraid  of  a  mistake,  and  in  one  respect  Moffat  was 
greatly  changed — the  long  black  beard  was  gone. 
However,  messengers  were  despatched  to  announce 
his  arrival,  and  an  answer  came  that  the  party  was 
to  proceed,  which  they  did  for  several  days. 

"Ju/y  22nd,  Saturday. — Last  night,  after  we  were  all  fast 
asleep,  men  arrived  from  Mosilikatse  with  an  ox  to  be 
slaughtered,  and  an  injunction  to  hasten  forward,  as  his 
heart  longed  exceedingly  to  see  me.  We  set  off  again 
early  next  morning.  We  passed  several  towns  from  which 
the  people  rushed  out  to  us,  walking  alongside  of  the 
waggons  for  miles,  staring  at  me  as  though  they  would 
look  their  very  eyes  out.  In  the  forenoon  we  drew  near 
the  royal  residence.  One  after  another  with  shield  and 
spear  came  running  to  say  that  the  chief  was  waiting. 
Sam  and  I  walked  on  before  the  waggons,  taking  little 
notice  of  the  fuss  around  us.  We  of  course  expected  some 
such  display  as  I  had  aforetime  seen.  We  entered  an 
immense  large  fold,  and  following  a  headman  were  led  to 
the  opposite  side,  where  sat  some  fifty  or  sixty  warriors. 
The  town  seemed  to  be  new,  or  half  finished.  There  was 
nothing  like  the  order  or  cleanliness  I  had  seen  before. 
We  stood  for  some  minutes  at  a  door  or  opening  in  the 
fence  leading  to  some  premises  behind.  In  the  meantime 
]Mosilikatse  had  been  moved  from  his  house  to  this  door- 
way. On  turning  round,  there  he  sat — how  changed  !  The 
vigorous,  active,  and  nimble  chief  of  the  Matebele,  now 
aged,  sitting  on  a  skin,  lame  in  the  feet,  unable  to  walk  or 
even  to  stand.  I  entered,  he  grasped  my  hand,  gave  one 
earnest  look,  and  drew  his  mantle  over  his  face.  It  would 
have  been  an  awful  sight  for  his  people  to  see  the  hero  of 
a  hundred  fights  wipe  from  his  eyes  the  falling  tears.  He 
spoke  not,  except  to  pronounce  my  name,  IMoshcte,  again 


304        CONDITION  OF  THE  MATEBELE. 

and  again.  He  looked  at  me  again,  his  hand  still  holding 
mine,  and  he  again  covered  his  face.  My  heart  yearned 
with  compassion  for  his  soul.  Drawing  a  little  nearer  to 
the  outside  so  as  to  be  within  sight  of  Mokumbate,  his 
venerable  counsellor,  he  poured  out  his  joy  to  him. 

"  Meanwhile  Sam  had  come  up,  but  he,  like  me,  had 
anticipated  a  very  different  scene,  neither  of  us  having 
heard  a  word  of  Mosilikatse's  indisposition.  We  sat  some 
time  with  him,  while  he  would  expatiate  on  my  unchanged 
friendship,  on  which  he  said  he  had  always  relied." 

The  chief  was  almost  helpless  with  dropsy.  It 
was  a  happy  beginning  to  his  renewed  intercourse 
with  his  old  friend  that  the  means  adopted  for  his 
restoration  were  wonderfully  blessed,  and  in  a  short 
time  he  was  walkinsf  about  a<jain  with  something 
of  his  old  vigour.  Moffat  remained  nearly  three 
months.  He  found  the  Matebele  in  much  the  same 
condition  in  which  they  were  when  he  had  seen 
them  last,  more  than  fifteen  years  before,  on  the 
Marikwa  River.  His  short  visits  and  the  transient 
efforts  of  various  missionaries  to  gain  an  influence 
had  left  little  impression  of  a  rehVious  kind  on  the 
minds  of  the  people.  The  greater  part  of  those 
who  were  in  the  prime  of  life  on  the  occasion  of  his 
earlier  visits  had  passed  away  in  heathen  darkness. 
The  rank  and  file  of  the  nation  were  now  the  young 
men  and  women  who  had  grown  up  in  captivity, 
belonging  to  the  Bechwana,  Makalaka,  and  Mashuna 
tribes,  upon  whom  the  ruthless  Matebele  had  fallen 
in  their  migrations.  There  were  two  captives  of  a 
different  sort,  a  Griqua  boy  and  girl,  whose  release 
Moffat  had  vainly  sought  before.  These  were  of 
course  grown  up.  William  was  a  man  of  some  in- 
fluence, and  in  command  of  a  considerable  number 


MOFFAT  AND   LIVINGSTONE.  305 

of  warriors.  He  still  remembered  a  little  Dutch, 
the  language  of  his  childhood,  and  speedily  became 
more  ready  in  the  use  of  it,  and  a  great  assistance 
in  interpreting  and  in  giving  information  such  as 
could  be  obtained  from  no  one  else  in  the  country. 
His  cousin,  Troi,  still  retained  some  faint  recollec- 
tions of  her  father,  and  cherished  a  desire  to  see 
her  friends  again.  The  tyrant,  in  deference  to  the 
entreaties  of  Moffat,  allowed  her  to  return  in  his 
train,  and  she  was  restored  to  her  family  like  one 
brought  back  from  the  dead  after  a  captivity  of 
nearly  twenty  years. 

With  much  greater  difficulty  Moffat  accomplished 
one  of  the  principal  objects  of  his  journey  :  to  ascer- 
tain something  about  the  circumstances  in  which 
Livingstone  might  be  placed,  and  to  forward  to  him 
letters  and  supplies.  For  some  time  he  was  wholly 
occupied  in  putting  the  old  chief  through  a  course  of 
medical  treatment.  The  success  which  attended  his 
efforts  in  this  direction  gave  him  a  great  advantage  ; 
but  even  with  this  gained,  it  was  hard  to  persuade 
Mosilikatse  to  take  any  steps  which  would  tend  to 
open  up  communication  northwards.  The  motto  of 
the  Matebele  and  their  chief  was — isolation.  At 
last,  wearied  out  by  Moffat's  importunities,  a  small 
party  was  sent  off  to  the  Zambezi  to  come  within 
touch  of  the  Makololo,  and  to  make  inquiries  as  to 
what  had  become  of  the  Doctor.  But  this  was  not 
enough  to  meet  Moffat's  views,  and  at  last  he 
obtained  consent  to  himself  starting  for  the  north- 
west. To  his  surprise  Mosilikatse  determined  to 
accompany  him,  and  accordingly  for  many  days 
this  strange  sort  of  royal  progress  continued.      It 

21 


3c5        A   JOURNEY  WITH  MOSILIKATSE, 

was  slow  and  not  very  favourable  to  the  object 
Moffat  had  in  view,  but  it  gave  an  opportunity  of 
much  more  constant  and  closer  intercourse  between 
the  chief  and  the  missionary,  and  broke  down  the 
objection  of  the  former  to  the  preaching  of  the 
gospel  to  himself  and  his  people. 

After  travelling  several  days  and  reaching  the 
farthest  outposts  of  the  Matebele,  in  the  direction  of 
the  Victoria  Falls,  it  was  found  that  there  were  in- 
superable obstacles  to  further  progress  with  waggons. 
The  country  was  waterless,  and  there  were  belts  of 
jungle  infested  with  the  tsetse — the  fly  so  destructive 
to  cattle.  What  might  have  been  done  by  Moffat 
himself,  had  he  been  alone,  was  out  of  the  question 
for  him,  encumbered  as  he  was  with  Mosilikatse  and 
his  retinue  of  aged  counsellors,  wives,  and  some 
hundreds  of  men,  with  cattle  for  slaughter.  Pro- 
bably this  was  all  clear  enough  to  the  crafty  old 
chiefs  own  mind.  He  could  not  bear  the  thought 
of  Moshete  going  on  to  people  beyond  him.  This 
is  a  feeling  to  be  commonly  observed  in  these  native 
chiefs,  and  is  one  of  the  obstacles  which  bar  the  way 
of  most  travellers  in  the  interior. 

Having  got  so  far,  and  when  it  became  plain  that 
there  was  nothing  for  it  but  to  turn  back,  Moffat 
was  determined  to  carry  out  at  least  a  part  of  his 
wish,  and  at  last  the  chief  was  persuaded  to  send  on 
a  party  of  men  to  whom  the  supplies  for  Livingstone 
were  committed.  These  supplies  had  been  made  up 
into  bundles  for  carrying  on  men's  shoulders.  It 
afterwards  proved  that  these  men  faithfully  dis- 
charged their  trust.  As  privileged  persons,  carry- 
ing the  packages  of  a  missionary,  they  crossed  the 


RETURN    TO  KURUMAN.  307 

border  country  in  safety,  and  descended  into  the 
valley  of  the  Zambezi,  where  there  were  none  but 
their  sworn  enemies,  the  Makololo,  and  at  last  pre- 
sented themselves  on  the  south  bank  of  the  river  at 
a  spot  where  they  could  shout  across  to  an  island  in 
the  river  and  announce  their  errand.  Small  as  their 
party  was,  they  could  get  no  one  to  approach  them, 
for  treachery  was  still  suspected.  They  laid  their 
packages  on  the  bank,  delivered  their  message 
across  the  stream,  and  departed  hungry  and  tired 
and  footsore.  The  Makololo,  finding  them  really 
gone,  took  the  bundles  they  had  brought,  placed 
them  on  an  island,  and  built  a  roof  over  them,  and 
there  they  were  when  Livingstone  returned  some 
months  afterwards  from  his  journey  to  St.  Paul  de 
Loanda  on  the  west  coast,  thankful,  indeed,  for  the 
letters  and  supplies  which  reached  him  by  this 
strange   kind  of  parcels   delivery. 

As  the  time  drew  near  for  departure,  Moffat  lost 
no  opportunity  of  speaking  to  the  chief  and  his 
people  on  matters  of  eternal  importance.  Many 
were  the  warninsTfs  and  exhortations  addressed  to 
those  to  whom  such  words  were  strange.  The 
result  can  never  be  known  till  the  day  when  all 
thinofs  shall  be  made  manifest  ;  but  as  the  mis- 
sionary  prepared  to  bid  farewell,  it  was  with  a  heart 
oppressed  with  an  awful  weight  in  the  sight  of  such 
abject,  grovelling  degradation  mingled  with  nobler 
and  affectincr  traits  of  character.  The  lonQf  return 
journey  of  seven  hundred  miles  was  accomplished 
without  notable  event.  Moffat  parted  with  his 
genial  and  valuable  fellow-traveller,  Mr.  Edwards, 
at  the  Bamangwato,  and  reached  home  in  safety. 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

MAJ^Y  MOFFAT  AGAIN  JOURNEYS  TO 
THE  COAST. 

1854— 1856. 

IT  was  home,  but  home  without  its  chief  attrac- 
tion. Moffat  found  himself  quite  alone  at 
Kuruman.  The  Ashtons  were  away,  and  his 
own  wife  had  gone  to  the  Colony  to  meet  one  of  her 
daughters  returning  from  school  in  England.  She 
had  been  obliged  to  continue  her  journey  much 
further  than  she  had  originally  contemplated,  had 
met  with  unusual  hindrance  and  difficulty,  and  had 
not  been  able  to  return  in  time  to  meet  her  husband 
and  to  welcome  him  from  his  long  and  interesting 
expedition. 

•'Port  Elizabeth,  October g,  1854. 
"  I  now  begin  to  fear  that  I  shall  not  be  at  home  to 
receive  you,  which  grieves  me  much.  Hitherto  I  have 
written  nothing  to  you,  from  a  conviction  that  I  should  be 
in  time,  but  it  may  be  otherwise.  Livingstone's  destiny 
being  so  involved  in  obscurity,  you  may  turn  back  before 
you  reach  the  Zambezi.  The  extract  I  now  enclose  with 
this  to  Fredoux  was  taken  from  last  week's  papers,  and 
gave  me  great  joy  to  see  that  he  was  alive  in  April  last, 
and  that  this  information,  having  come  through  the  Portu- 


MEETS  HER  DAUGHTER  FROM  ENGLAND.  309 

gucse,  there  was  no  fear  of  their  doing-  him  any  harm. 
Should  you  arrive  at  Motito  before  this  letter,  you  will  have 
had  some  items  of  news,  though  I  have  not  been  able  to 
write  much  to  any  one  ;  for  what  with  the  fatigue  of  travel- 
ling, unpleasant  weather,  and  having  everything  to  think 
of,  it  has  been  impossible.  It  is  a  great  tax  on  my  strength 
to  have  to  talk  so  much  ;  to  tell  over  and  over  again  all 
about  you  and  your  journey  as  well  as  my  own.  with  all  the 
whys  and  wherefores.  With  a  few  more  intelligent  I  have 
to  expatiate  on  the  probable  results  of  your  journey,  and 
Livingstone's  reasons  for  adopting  the  course  he  has  done. 
All  this  fatigues  me  exceedingly  ;  both  head  and  chest 
suffer. 

"  You  will  see  from  letters  sent  to  the  Fredouxs  that  I 
came  here  to  meet  Betsy,  and  have,  blessed  be  God,  met 
her  in  perfect  health  and  safety.  .  .  . 

"  She  is  now  full  of  ardent  aspirations  after  meeting  you, 
but  we  are  detained — waiting  for  her  luggage.  This  is  the 
twelfth  day  since  they  landed,  and  only  this  morning  is  a 
little  of  it  come,  and  now  there  is  such  a  swell  that  the  boats 
cannot  work.  I  was  to  leave  to-day,  vm  Bethelsdorp,  to 
see  the  Kitchingmans,  and  am  getting  oxen  from  them  to 
take  me  back  to  Wilmot's,  where  I  left  Robert's,  because 
they  were  sore-footed  and  could  not  come  on.  This  was 
occasioned  by  heavy  rains  when  I  was  among  the  hills. 

"  I  feel  unhappy  at  the  thought  of  not  being  at  home  as 
soon  as  you,  and  all  is  so  dark  about  you  ;  your  last  date 
which  has  come  to  hand  is  July  13th.  Well!  patience 
must  have  its  perfect  work.  We  commenced  this  sort  of 
suffering  at  Dukinfield  Nursery,  and  it  looks  as  if  we 
should  continue  much  in  such  feelings  to  the  end  of  our 
lives.  The  last  six  months  have  been  very  trying  in  this 
respect — all  things  dark  and  obscure ;  my  mind  has  been 
like  a  bow  at  the  full  stretch — you  and  Livingstone  at  one 
end,  Mary  and  Betsy  at  the  other.  I  felt  sometimes  as  if 
the  string  was  too  tight,  but  was  wonderfully  sustained.  I 
felt  more  hopeful  than  is  my  habit,  much  encouragement 
in  prayer  ;  you  know  I  am  not  very  imaginative,  at  least 
where  you  come,  but  have  generally  pictured  you  and  pcor 


310  DEATH  OF  ROBERT  MOFFAT S  MOTHER. 

Livingstone  both  surrounded  by  the  angels  of  God  (Psalm 
xxxiv.  7)  in  your  encampments.  My  heart  has  been 
especially  drawn  out  for  the  extension  of  the  Redeemer's 
kingdom  as  a  result  of  the  journeys  of  you  both.  God  can 
of  the  stones  raise  up  seed  unto  Abraham,  and  if  you  are 
only  able  to  leave  the  impression  on  some  minds  that  they 
are  immortal  beings  and  accountable  creatures,  you  will 
have  been  instrumental  of  doing  a  great  work. 

"  You  will  have  heard  that  your  worthy  and  beloved 
mother  has  done  with  all  sorrow  and  pain,  and  got  to  hei 
rest.  Now,  my  dear  Robert,  you  will  think  my  mind  poorly 
prepared  for  trial,  taking  as  I  do  the  most  cheerful  view  of 
things.  Well,  I  have  the  promise,  *  As  thy  day,  so  shall  thy 
strength  be.'     Be  assured  I  shall  lose  no  time  on  the  road." 

In  his  solitude  on  his  arrival  at  Kuruman  the 
tidings  reached  him  that  his  mother  had  passed 
away  at  the  age  of  eighty-four.  The  event  was 
naturally  not  unexpected.  She  had  been  a  good 
mother  to  him,  and  he  could  not  forget  it.  It  was  a 
great  comfort  to  him  that,  though  it  had  not  been 
his  privilege  to  watch  over  her  declining  years,  she 
had  been  well  cared  for  by  his  brother  Richard,  who 
had  never  left  her  since  his  father's  death,  and  was 
with  her  till  the  last.  She  died  as  she  had  lived,  a 
godly  and  consistent  woman,  whose  faith  found  a 
sure  resting-place  in  the  eternal  realities. 

Mary  Mojfat  to  Miss  Braithzvaite. 

"Kuruman,  JuneS,  1855. 
"  It  certainly  becomes  me  to  spare  a  little  time  to 
acknowledge  all  your  kindness  and  that  of  the  dear 
Kendal  friends,  but  I  am  too  ready  to  frame  excuses  for 
myself,  and  have  been  doing  so  lately,  promising  to  write 
after  the  arrival  of  the  box  which  you  sent  off  last  July. 
This  came  to  Algoa  Bay  in  the  same  vessel  as  our  daughter 
Bessie,  whom  I  had  gone  thither  to  meet  ;  but  as  there 


LETTER   TO  FRIENDS  AT  KENDAL.      311 

is  no  jetty  at  that  port,  and  the  surf  sometimes  runs 
very  hi^h  for  weeks  toc^cther,  we  had  to  leave  before  it 
was  landed,  just  leaving  orders  that  it  and  some  other 
luggage  should  be  sent  by  carriers  to  Colesberg.  Since 
then,  the  Vaal  River  having  been  impassable  for  months, 
there  has  been  little  communication  between  the  Colony 
and  this.  The  box,  however,  came  to  hand  about  a 
month  ago,  having  been  floated  over  on  a  raft,  and  caught 
a  little  water  about  four  or  five  inches  deep  ;  happily, 
however,  the  least  valuable  things  were  at  the  bottom.  .  .  . 

"  I  must  not  pass  by  the  little  notes  accompanying  the 
various  parcels.  •  Truly  they  do  our  hearts  good,  and 
strengthen  our  hands  in  the  work  in  which  we  are  engaged, 
seeing  how  many  hearts  are  sympathising  with  us,  and 
sending  up  their  fervent  petitions  for  a  blessing  on  that 
work,  and  sighing  for  the  redemption  of  the  people  among 
whom  we  live.  We  sometimes  fear  that  poor  degraded 
Africa  is  forgotten  among  the  many  objects  which  engross 
the  public  mind,  but  such  communications  as  we  have  had 
from  you  and  the  Kendal  friends  show  us  our  mistake  and 
revive  our  hopes.  .  .  . 

"  A  little  before  this  time  last  year  circumstances  seemed 
to  indicate  that  my  husband  ought  to  seek  relaxation  in  a 
journey,  and  the  reiterated  entreaties  of  that  savage  king 
Mosilikatse  that  he  would  once  more  visit  him  seemed  to  us 
both  like  a  call  in  Providence  to  direct  his  steps  thither  in 
preference  to  visiting  the  civilized  world,  as  then  he  would 
have  numerous  opportunities  of  scattering  the  precious  seed 
among  the  various  tribes  through  which  he  would  have  to 
pass,  besides  the  possible  good  which  might  result  from  his 
visit  to  the  Matebele.  Again,  as  we  could  hear  nothing  of 
Livingstone,  and  were  assured  that  his  supplies  must  be 
exhausted,  it  would  afford  an  opportunity  of  ascertaining 
where  he  was,  and  at  the  same  time  of  forwarding  to 
Linyanti  such  things  as  he  required.  Just  when  the  matter 
hung  in  doubtful  scale  two  very  respectable  young  traders 
arrived  in  the  hope  that  Mr.  Moffat  would  go,  that  they 
might  thus  have  an  introduction  through  him  to  the  Mate- 
bele.    As  regards  my  own  opinion,  I  no  longer  doubted  of 


312  A   RETROSPECT  OF  MERCIES. 

the  propriety  of  his  going,  as  my  only  objection  had  been  to 
his  going  alone,  for  fear  of  the  fever  so  prevalent  in  the 
tropics  ;  and  his  own  inclination  being  decidedly  in  favour 
of  the  measure,  it  was  soon  decided,  and  he  left  this  in 
May. 

"  Feeling  that  I  too  required  a  change  of  air,  it  was 
decided  before  he  left  that  I  should  go  as  far  as  Coles- 
berg  as  soon  as  I  heard  from  him  from  the  Bakwena. 
Waiting  for  this  I  did  not  leave  till  the  15th  of  July,  which 
was  providential,  for  had  I  got  away  sooner,  I  should  have 
returned  before  the  (to  me)  important  intelligence  reached 
me  that,  though  Mrs.  Livingstone  was  not  coming,  my 
younger  daughter  Bessie  was.  Just  when  all  was  ready  for 
my  journey  home  I  heard  this,  and  at  once  started  for  Port 
Elizabeth,  where  we  arrived  within  three  da}'s  of  each  other. 
Now,  fearing  that  my  husband  might  come  home  to  an 
empty  house,  I  made  my  journey  as  rapidly  as  swollen 
rivers  would  allow  me.  We  were  detained  three  weeks  at 
the  Orange  River  and  one  month  at  the  Vaal,  and  thus 
after  all  my  haste  he  was  at  home  first,  and  had  to  come 
and  help  us  over  the  river.  Then,  indeed,  we  had  a  season 
of  great  joy  as  a  family,  on  having  reached  the  northern 
bank  of  that  mighty  stream.  Our  dear  child  had  been 
brought  in  safety  over  the  stormy  ocean  after  nearly  seven 
years'  absence.  My  dear  husband  had  travelled  seven  hun- 
dred miles  north-east  of  this,  through  savage  beasts  and 
savage  men,  and  had  been  brought  back  again  in  perfect 
safety  and  improved  health,  after  being  permitted  to  make 
known  the  word  of  eternal  life  to  perishing  thousands 
who  had  never  heard  before  of  a  Saviour  or  of  a  Supreme 
Being  at  all.  My  journey  too  had  been  attended  with 
difficulties  and  dangers,  out  of  all  of  which  the  Lord  had 
delivered  us.  Added  to  these  mercies  during  our  stay  at 
the  ri\er,  a  paper  came  to  hand  announcing  the  arrival  of 
our  poor  Livingstone  at  Loanda  just  when  I  had  been  in- 
dulging fears.  You  will  be  able  to  conceive  of  our  feelings 
at  such  a  season,  what  abundant  cause  of  thankfulness  we 
had.  vea,  and  still  have,  for  we  seem  to  wonder  more  and 
n:ore  on  the  retrospect. 


LETTER   TO   DR.  BRUCE.  313 

"  As  my  husband  has  sent  home  copious  extracts  from 
his  journal,  the  most  interesting  parts  of  which  will  likely  be 
published  by  the  Directors,  it  would  be  superfluous  for  me 
to  give  anything  here  except  to  remark  that  after  so  much 
providential  leading  and  guidance  in  both  our  journeys,  we 
think  there  is  much  to  indicate  the  Divine  approbation, 
and  we  fondly  hope  the  results  will  be  such  as  shall  even- 
tually redound  to  the  glory  of  God.  There  is  something 
very  remarkable  in  the  uncommonly  strong  attachment  of 
the  poor  savage  Mosilikatse  to  my  husband — an  attachment 
which  has  lasted  for  twenty-three  years — and  wc  cannot 
help  thinking  that  this  circumstance  is  to  be  overruled  for 
some  great  object." 

Robert  Moffat  to  Dr.  Britce,  of  Netvcastk. 

"  It  is  long  since  I  wrote  to  you,  it  being  now  more  than 
a  twelvemonth  since  I  left  for  my  interior  journey,  which 
occupied  seven  months.  .  .  . 

"I  have  resumed  the  translation  of  the  second  volume  of 
the  Old  Testament — a  work  at  which  I  never  tire,  and  only 
regret  that  I  have  so  many  interruptions.  I  have  just  laid 
the  MS.  aside  with  the  resolution  to  write  to  you  by  an  un- 
expected opportunity  to  the  Colony.  We  heard  through 
John  some  time  since  that  }'0U  had  visited  Rome.  How 
much  I  should  like  to  sit  in  Percy  Street  and  hear  you  talk 
for  a  couple  of  hours  about  what  you  saw  in  that  strange 
city  !  In  reading  about  it,  there  are  so  many  things  which 
arise  in  the  mind,  about  which  one  would  like  to  ask  ques- 
tions. According  to  some  students  of  prophecy  it  is  one 
day  to  be  destroyed  or  swallowed  up  by  a  fiery  deluge.  If 
so,  one  must  feel  thankful  that  you  have  got  out  of  it  again. 
What  an  awful  conflagration  has  been  witnessed  in  your 
town  !  A  stray  number  of  the  Illustrated  Nezvs  came, 
with  drawings  of  the  terrible  scenes  which,  though  on  paper, 
appeared  quite  frightful  enough.  How  uncertain  are  all 
human  prospects,  and  how  ignorant  we  are  as  to  where 
danger  really  exists !  .   .   ■ 

"  You  have  my  hearty  thanks  for  your  '  Roman  Wall.* 


314         INTERRUPTIONS   TO   HIS    WORK. 

which  came  safe  at  last,  after  having  been  long  on  the 
road.  How  it  rivets  one's  thoughts  to  the  interesting 
incidents  of  the  past  !  How  nobly  the  Romans  acted  in 
their  warlike  expeditions,  if  such  may  be  called  noble. 
They  carried  their  civilization,  their  arts,  and  their  devotion 
to  their  gods  with  them  ;  they  left  marks  of  improvement 
wherever  they  planted  their  eagles.  You  must  have  had 
much  labour,  but  the  completeness  of  the  work  must  yield 
no  little  satisfaction.  .  .  , 

"  I  found  all  the  tribes  in  the  interior  at  peace  ;  at  least 
there  was  no  active  warfare.  That  the  Transvaal  Boers 
and  the  aborigines  will  live  in  peace,  is  what  we  have  long 
since  ceased  to  expect  ;  nor  will  the  former  ever  rest  till 
they  have  driven  the  latter  beyond  their  reach,  or  reduced 
them  to  abject  vassalage.  The  condition  of  these  is  still 
more  hopeless,  since  the  abandonment  of  the  sovereignty, 
since  which  the  inhabitants  unite  with  the  Transvallians  in 
helping  on  the  work  of  extermination." 

Robert  Moffat  to  ojie  of  his  Childj'en. 

Atlg74St  20,    1856. 

"In  taking  up  the  pen  to  write  to  you,  according  to 
promise,  I  shall  endeavour  to  give  you  an  account  of  my 
present  labours,  that  you  may  form  a  tolerably  correct  idea 
of  the  difficulty  I  find  in  obtaining  time  to  write  letters. 
Doubtless  you  are  by  this  time  pretty  well  acquainted 
with  the  difficulties  attendant  on  the  translation  of  the 
sacred  oracles  into  a  language  but  lately  reduced  to 
writing ;  but  these  difficulties  also  increase  or  diminish 
according  to  the  circumstances  of  the  translator.  Of 
course  it  is  a  work  which  demands  all  the  time  and  pains 
which  can  possibly  be  bestowed  upon  it,  and  after  all  may 
not  come  up  to  what  may  be  desired.  Here  I  am,  and 
have  been  among  a  people  whose  wants  are  endless,  and 
whose  demands  on  my  time  are  incessant  and  uncertain 
as  the  course  of  the  wind.  Many,  many  are  the  times  I 
have  sat  down  and  got  my  thoughts  somewhat  in  order, 
with  pen  in  hand  to  write  a  verse,  the  correct  rendering  of 
which  I   had  just   arrived  at,  after  wading  through  other 


MANY  SORTS  OF   VISITORS.  315 

translations  and  lexicons,  when  one  enters  my  study  with 
some  complaint  he  has  to  make,  or  counsel  to  ask,  or 
medical  advice  and  medicine  to  boot,  a  tooth  to  be  ex- 
tracted, a  subscription  to  the  auxiliary  to  be  measured  or 
counted  ;  or  one  calls  (as  at  the  present  moment)  to  say  he 
is  going  towards  the  Colony,  and  wishes  something  like  a 
a  passport  ;  anon  strangers  from  other  towns,  and  visitors 
from  the  interior  arrive,  who  all  seem  to  claim  a  right  to 
my  attentions.  Here  we  cannot  so  easily  ring  the  bell  and 
bow  visitors  to  the  front  door.  More  generally  they  expect 
entertainment  of  a  tangible  character.  Repairs  want  doing 
or  superintending ;  the  general  concerns  of  the  station 
devolve  upon  myself.  I  have  to  correspond  with  native 
teachers,  and  to  see  their  wants  supplied — all  these,  and 
twenty  other  things  of  a  similar  kind,  leave  very  little  time 
indeed  at  my  command  or  that  of  your  mother.  Public 
services  and  visits  to  out-stations  of  course  demand  their 
share.  The  worst  is  that  all  or  most  of  these  interruptions 
dart  on  one  with  the  uncertainty  of  a  shooting  star,  and 
render  the  appropriation  of  time  as  devious  as  the  flight  of 
the  bat.  When  I  take  up  a  newspaper,  it  is  only  to  glance 
at  it  with  a  feeling  like  that  of  committing  sacrilege.  I 
have  sometimes  been  arrested  with  something  interesting, 
and  have  read  it  with  ten  or  more  strokes  in  the  minute 
added  to  my  pulse,  from  the  anxiety  caused  by  the 
conviction  that  I  am  spending  precious  time  apart  from  its 
paramount  object  while  I  feel  perfectly  composed  over 
anything  which  I  am  satisfied  has  a  direct  bearing  on  the 
true  object  of  the  missionary.  As  I  have  a  small  mechani- 
cal bump  in  some  corner  of  my  head,  I  feel  a  relief 
occasionally  in  mending  an  article,  or  it  may  be  a  gun-lock 
for  some  needy  body  ;  but  I  cannot  imitate  the  musical 
souter,  whose  picture  I  have  seen,  holding  his  chin  in  one 
hand,  while  he  is  whistling  a  tune  to  a  new-made  shoe  he 
is  holding  up  with  the  other,  with  the  violin  and  flute  at 
his  side  to  vary  the  exercises  of  the  last.  Every  time  I 
make  a  halt  from  such  causes  in  the  course  of  my  duties 
I  feel  as  if  I  must  endeavour  to  make  up  in  some  way  for 
the   loss.     The  moment   I   have   finished   any   little  job  I 


3i6     UNFAIR   POLICY   OF   THE   GOVERNMENT. 

throw  down  my  tools  and  am  back  to  my  work,  so  that  my 
little  workshop  would  beat  any  Irishman's  garret  you  ever 
saw  ;  but  it  does  not  incommode  me  any  more  than  con- 
fusion in  my  study.  Your  mother  has  some  difficulty  at 
times  to  get  permission  to  brush  out  my  study,  for  it  is 
visited  by  all  sorts  of  people,  some  of  whom  are  neither 
brushed  nor  buttoned,  independently  of  the  dusty  character 
of  the  country.  .  .  . 

"  WitH  regard  to  the  Bechwana  Mission  our  present 
prospects  are  anything  but  bright.  This  arises  principally 
from  the  pressure  of  foreign  influence.  It  is  the  time  of 
ebb  with  us,  and  has  been  for  some  time  past.  Few  have 
been  added  to  our  churches,  notwithstanding  the  increase 
of  means  in  the  way  of  books  and,  I  might  add,  good 
congregations  and  attentive  hearers.  There  is  a  general 
deadness  over  which  we  mourn.  We  feel  we  need  the 
kindling  influences  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  The  public  mind 
has  been  greatly  soured  by  the  policy  of  our  Government 
towards  the  native  tribes  on  the  northern  border,  who 
have  never  given  the  shadow  of  a  reason  for  being  so  dealt 
with.  The  odious  powder  ordinance,  put  into  force  to  meet 
the  wishes  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  Free  State  and  of  the 
Transvaal  Republic,  precludes  the  natives  from  procuring  a 
single  ounce  of  ammunition,  either  to  defend  themselves  or 
to  kill  their  own  game.  This  is  tantamount  to  depriving 
them  of  their  arms  that  they  may  become  an  easy  prey  to 
their  enemies.  The  members  of  our  churches  of  course 
know  that  this  is  no  fault  of  ours,  though  we  are  sadly 
ashamed  of  it,  and  can  no  more  open  our  mouth  to  say  a 
single  word  in  favour  of  our  nation,  once  so  respected  and 
honoured  by  the  aborigines. 

"  The  conclusions  drawn  by  the  heathen  are  very  natural: 
viz.,  that  the  English  connive  at  their  extermination.  This 
has  an  indirect  but  powerful  influence  in  prejudicing  them 
against  everything  emanating  from  that  quarter;  but  we 
know  that  this,  like  other  things  which  the  gospel  has  had 
to  contend  with,  is  destined  to  fall  at  the  Divine  mandate. 
Though  compared  to  the  teeming  millions  of  the  Eastern 
world  the  tribes  are  small,  yet  there  is  a  large  population 


THE  CHIEFS    WELL   DISPOSED.  317 

speaking  the  language  in  which  the  whole  of  the  oracles  of 
God  will  shortly  be  printed.  The  gospel  has  already  been 
made  the  power  of  God  to  the  salvation  of  many  of  them, 
and  while  we  know  that  Jehovah's  hand  is  not  shortened, 
nor  His  ear  heavy,  we  continue  to  hope  that  the  mental 
desert  will  yet  rejoice  and  blossom  as  the  rose. 

"  Hitherto  the  progress  of  the  gospel  has  been,  as  it  has 
always  been,  among  the  poor  and  middling  sort  of  folks. 
Our  chiefs  are  sordid  and  sottish.  Yantye  of  Lekatlong 
is  one  who  has  influence,  but  he  has  not  much  energy. 
However,  he  has  around  him  a  Christian  community,  under 
the  ministrations  of  our  worthy  brother,  Helmore.  Though 
there  may  be  a  solitary  village  whose  chief  might  refuse  a 
native  instructor,  there  is  no  chief  in  the  whole  country, 
from  here  to  the  Zambezi  River,  that  would  refuse  the 
services  of  a  missionary.  Pity  that  Sechele  is  so  beset  with 
difficulties  from  the  Transvaal  Boers,  for  he  is  the  most  in- 
telligent and  energetic  of  all  the  chiefs,  and  he  is  resolved 
not  to  retrograde,  as  he  is  now  building  a  chapel  or  school- 
house  on  his  mountain,  which  is  surrounded  by  many 
thousands  of  Bakwena  and  other  tribes  who  have  fled  from 
the  iron  rod  of  the  Boers.  Surely  all  these  souls  cannot 
be  left  to  perish  !  " 


CHAPTER  XXX. 

FOURTH  JOURNEY  TO  MOSILIKATSE. 

1857. 

IN  1857  the  translation  of  the  Old  Testament 
was  finished,  and  the  whole  Bible  was  in  the 
hands  of  the  Bechwanas  in  their  own  language. 
To  the  translator  the  labour  had  been  simply 
herculean.  His  work  had  been  carried  on  in  the 
face  of  countless  interruptions  as  already  described 
by  himself.  These  may  have  saved  him  from  a 
concentration  on  study  resulting  in  serious  con- 
sequences, but  it  required  indomitable  energy  and 
strength  of  will  to  overcome  them.  The  distance 
of  other  stations,  and  the  absence  of  means  for 
speedy  intercourse,  prevented  his  fellow-labourers, 
with  the  exception  of  Mr.  Ashton,  from  taking  any 
important  part  in  the  work.  At  the  time  it  was 
going  on  they  were  also,  for  the  most  part,  at  work 
on  comparatively  new  stations,  and  fully  absorbed  in 
overcoming  the  difficulties  incident  to  such  under- 
takings. The  New  Testament,  which  with  the 
Psalms  had  been  printed  in  1840,  on  the  occasion 
of   Moffat's   visit    to    England,    was   already  in   full 


MOFFAT  LOOKS  NORTHWARD   AGAIN.    319 

circulation.  It  is  worthy  of  remark,  and  is  a  tribute 
to  the  character  of  the  translation,  that  the  identical 
text  is  still  in  use  after  more  than  forty  years.  No 
one  would  be  so  foolish  as  to  say  that  it  cannot  be 
improved,  but  as  yet  the  improvement  has  not  been 
made. 

Before  the  last  sheets  of  the  Old  Testament  had 
passed  through  the  press  Moffat  was  laying  his  plans 
for  further  action.  He  felt  great  concern  for  the 
many  tribes  comparatively  within  reach  to  the  north- 
east, who  for  some  years  had  enjoyed  the  presence 
of  missionaries,  and  were  now  again  left  to  them- 
selves. Especially  was  his  mind  exercised  for 
Sccbele,  chief  of  the  Bakwena,  who  united  with  a 
forwardness  to  receive  the  gospel  and  its  accom- 
panying civilization  quite  unusual  an  erratic  way- 
wardness of  disposition,  which  caused  grief  and  fear 
to  his  best  friends.  So  Moffat  had  made  up  his 
mind  to  visit  Sechele  and  his  neighbours,  and  to 
strengthen  the  hands  of  one  or  two  native  teachers 
who  still  held  their  ground. 

Meanwhile  Livingstone,  after  disappearing  at 
Loanda  on  the  west  coast,  had  reappeared  at  Ouilli- 
mane  on  the  east,  and  had  made  his  way  to  London. 
The  supporters  of  the  London  Missionary  Society 
had  come  to  take  a  strong  interest  in  the  Makololo, 
who  under  their  chief,  Sekeletu,  had  shown  such  con- 
fidence in  the  missionary,  and  such  capacity  for 
enterprise  ;  and  steps  were  taken  for  the  establish- 
ment of  a  mission  among  them.  There  was  one 
condition  necessary,  that  the  Makololo  should  leave 
the  marshy  network  of  rivers  about  the  Chobe  where 
they  were  living,  or  rather  slowly  d)ing,  and  should 


320  EXTENSIVE  PLANS  FOR  NEW  MISSIONS. 

remove  to  the  high  country  about  the  Kafue,  on  the 
north  bank  of  the  Zambezi,  and  opposite  to  the 
Matebele,  on  the  south  bank.  But  the  two  tribes 
had  a  long-standing  feud,  and  the  Makololo  dis- 
trusted their  southern  neighbours,  whose  love  of 
plunder  would  sooner  or  later  assert  itself  and  lead 
to  a  renewal  of  the  attacks  which  had  formerly- 
caused  the  Makololo  to  abandon  that  region  and 
betake  themselves  westward  to  the  shelter  of  the 
marshes  and  rivers.  So  a  great  plan  took  shape, 
which,  like  a  good  many  other  plans  of  man's  making, 
after  costing  a  deal  of  money  and  life,  came  to 
nothinof.  It  was  thought  that  if  a  mission  could  be 
established  simultaneously  among  the  Makololo  and 
Matebele,  the  two  tribes  could  be  got  to  live  in 
peace.  The  outcome  of  all  this,  so  far  as  Moffat 
was  concerned,  was  a  letter  from  the  Directors  pro- 
posing that  he  should  go  for  a  twelvemonth  to  the 
Matebele,  taking  with  him  two  younger  men,  and 
plant  a  new  mission. 

There  were  many  things  to  be  considered.  He 
was  sixty-two  years  old,  of  which  forty-one  had 
been  spent  in  hard  work  for  the  Society  ;  but  that 
consideration  did  not  weigh  for  a  moment.  Though 
he  might  be  fit  for  such  an  undertaking,  his  wife  was 
not.  She  was  still  active  and  eneror-etic,  but  she 
only  kept  herself  in  w6rking  order  by  extreme  care 
and  method,  such  as  could  be  secured  on  an  old  and 
well-established  station  like  Kuruman.  It  would  be 
necessary  for  her  to  remain  behind.  True,  the 
Bechwana  Mission,  already  almost  abandoned,  would 
be  more  completely  bereft  by  the  so  long  absence 
of  the  one  man  whom  his  two  or  three  companions 


THE   HANOVERIANS  AT   SECHELE'S.     321 

would  readily  acknowledge  to  count  for  a  host  in 
himself.  Ashton  would  be  left  at  Kuruman,  Fre- 
doux  at  Motito,  Ross  at  Taung  to  the  eastward,  and 
Hughes  at  Griqua  Town.  Helmore  was  away  on 
furlough.  But  Moffat  felt  that  if  he  went  forward 
it  was  for  the  Directors  to  look  to  it  that  the  hands 
of  those  in  the  Bechwana  field  were  strenofthened. 

A  still  more  serious  consideration  was  as  to  how 
such  a  move  would  be  regarded  by  Mosilikatse  and 
his  people.  Had  it  rested  solely  with  Moffat  at  this 
time  he  would  not  have  advised  an  immediate  com- 
mencement of  a  mission  to  the  Matebele.  But  he 
felt  that  the  action  of  the  Directors  was  in  part  the 
result  of  what  he  himself  had  written  home,  and  he 
was  too  chivalrous  to  draw  back  at  such  a  moment. 
In  two  days  his  mind  was  made  up.  "  I  will  go,"  he 
said,  "  but  I  must  start  at  once  and  first  prepare  the 
minds  of  Mosilikatse  and  his  people  for  the  coming 
among  them  of  missionaries,  and  explain  to  him  the 
whole  plan."  So  in  a  few  days  more  he  was  off, 
ploughing  the  sandy  plains  to  the  north-east,  with 
seven  hundred  miles  thither  and  seven  hundred 
miles  back  again  of  travelling  in  the  slow  but  trusty 
ox  waggon. 

On  his  way  he  made  use  of  the  opportunity  to 
visit  the  Bechwana  tribes  along  his  line  of  route. 
He  found  himself  face  to  face  with  a  grave  question 
at  Sechele's.  Three  missionaries  had  arrived — a 
Mr.  Schroeder,  with  two  companions,  belonging  to 
a  Hanoverian  Society  under  the  direction  of  Pastor 
Harms,  of  Hermannsburg.  Curiously  enough  they 
had  come  through  the  Boers,  and  in  some  measure 
by  their  aid,  in  answer  to  an  appeal  from  Sechele, 

22 


322         MOFFAT  SMOOTHS   THEIR    WAY, 

who  had  begun  to  despair  of  further  attention  from 
the  London  missionaries.  At  this  time  Pretorius 
was  in  power  at  Potchefstroom.  He  was  a  man  of 
mild  disposition,  and  sought  to  pursue  a  more  peace- 
ful policy  towards  the  native  tribes.  The  Boers 
were  harassed  by  dissensions  among  themselves, 
and  a  certain  party  of  them  were  cultivating  the 
friendship  of  the  border  chiefs,  particularly  of 
Sechele. 

When  the  worthy  Schroeder  arrived  in  the  town 
of  the  Bakwena,  accompanied  by  a  Boer  functionary 
from  the  Marico  District,  the  chief  began  to  realize 
the  true  significance  of  the  step  he  had  taken.  His 
people,  not  actuated  by  his  intense  desire  for  a  mis- 
sionary, were  quick  at  catching  up  an  objection  to 
these  men.  They  had  come  with  and  from  the 
Boers,  their  coming  meant  no  good.  If  the  Boers 
wished  the  Bakwena  to  have  the  word  of  God,  why 
had  they  driven  away  Ngake  (Livingstone),  burnt 
his  house,  and  pillaged  his  property  ? 

When  Moffat  appeared  on  the  scene  his  own 
mind  was  full  of  somewhat  similar  thouQi^hts.  But 
he  had  not  been  long  in  the  company  of  the  new- 
comers before  he  was  reassured.  He  found  them 
good  and  worthy  men,  whose  connection  with  the 
Boers  was  merely  accidental.  They  had  come  that 
way  from  Natal  because  they  did  not  know  how 
else  to  get  there,  and  when  they  had  found  that  the 
Bakwena  were  under  the  care  of  the  London  Mis- 
sionary Society,  and  had  among  them  a  native 
teacher,  they  had,  through  their  own  Superintendejit 
in  Natal,  taken  steps  to  communicate  with  the 
Directors  of  that  Society  ;  and  hearing  that  Moffat 


THEY  ARE   ESTABLISHED    THERE.      323 

was  expected  from  Kuruman,  they  meanwhile  awaited 
his  arrival.  Still  the  position  was  perplexing.  Here 
was  a  case  of  intrusion,  and  a  departure  from  the 
rule  of  courtesy  and  convenience  which  the  Evan- 
gelical Societies  observe  towards  each  other.  A 
word  would  have  been  enouofh.  Schroeder  would 
have  withdrawn  instantly  if  he  had  been  asked  to  do 
so,  and  Sechele  was  only  wanting  Moffat's  word  for 
it,  which  he  earnestly  desired,  when  he  found,  to  his 
mortification,  that  in  receiving  his  new  friends  he 
was  parting  company  with  his  old  ones.  But  Moffat 
felt  that  he  could  not  say  the  word.  If  these  mis- 
sionaries left,  Sechele  could  then  justly  claim  to  be 
supplied  with  at  least  one  European  agent  by  his 
old  Society.  And  this  was  just  what  Moffat  could 
not  promise.  So  the  Hanoverians  remained.  They 
have  done  and  are  doing  good  work  within  the 
Transvaal,  where  they  have  many  stations.  Their 
nationality,  and  their  concessions  to  the  Boers  on 
some  points,  give  them  a  footing  where  English 
missionaries  would  be  shut  out ;  but  it  is  open  to 
question  whether  it  would  not  have  been  better  for 
the  Kalahari  tribes  outside  of  the  Transvaal  to  have 
had  their  wants  supplied  entirely  by  the  Society 
which  had  first  commenced  work  there. 

Moffat  arranged  that  Paul,  the  native  teacher, 
should  remain  to  assist  the  new  missionaries  for  a 
time,  and  successfully  combated  the  prejudices  of 
the  Bakwena.  It  was  decided  that  the  mission 
should  be  transferred  to  the  Hanoverians,  and  so  it 
remained  for  some  years,  when  they  withdrew,  and 
their  place  was  again  supplied  by  the  London 
Society.       Moffat  went  his  way,   and    in  due  time 


324  THE   CAPTIVE   MACHENG. 

arrived  at  the  headquarters  of  Mosllikatse.  The 
task  in  hand  was  not  so  simple  and  easy  as  it  might 
seem  at  this  distance  of  time.  The  failure  of  at- 
tempts in  former  years  to  establish  missions  among 
his  people  had  not  left  a  good  impression  on  the 
mind  of  Mosilikatse.  Yes  ;  he  was  willing  to  have 
missionaries,  but  my  friend  Ramary  must  come 
himself.  "  These  new  men,  I  do  not  know  them. 
All  men  are  not  alike."  Then  he  and  his  people 
shared  in  a  deep  conviction  that  the  opening  of 
the  country  to  white  men  to  come  and  settle  would 
be  the  beginning  of  the  end.  They  were  not  far 
wrong  there. 

However,  all  these  difficulties  were  overcome  by 
patient  effort,  and  the  way  seemed  clear.  Again 
and  aofain  was  the  chief  reminded  that  the  new- 
comers  would  come  with  their  wives  to  make  their 
homes  there,  and  would  not  be  merely  visitors  as 
Moffat  had  been,  and  that  their  great  work  would 
be  to  teach  and  to  preach  the  gospel.  It  was 
obvious  even  then  that  the  chief's  mind  was  full  of 
other  things.  He  thought  of  certain  temporal  ad- 
vantages which  in  his  mind  would  be  connected 
with  their  advent  and  residence  in  the  country. 

To  the  north-east  of  the  Bakwena,  on  the  road  to 
the  Matebele,  lay  the  Bamangw^ato,  a  large  tribe  ruled 
by  Sekhomi.  The  legal  chief,  by  name  Macheng, 
had  been  taken  prisoner  by  the  Matebele  when  a 
boy,  about  twenty  years  before.  On  his  former 
journey  to  Mosilikatse  Moffat  had  been  importuned 
by  Sechele  and  others  to  bring  back  Macheng,  if 
possible,  out  of  captivity.  He  had  declined  to  do 
so,  because  it  seemed  to  him  to  be  trenching  to  an 


HE   IS   RESTORED   TO   HIS   PEOPLE.      325 

undesirable  extent  upon  the  region  of  politics.  But 
on  this  occasion  his  objections  had  been  overcome, 
especially  when  Sekhomi  declared  his  willingness  to 
abdicate  his  power  in  favour  of  Macheng,  whose 
rights  he  never  attempted  to  dispute. 

Accordingly,  when  the  main  object  of  Moffat's 
journey  was  accomplished,  he  sought  and  obtained 
the  release  of  Macheno-,  It  was  not  a  small  matter 
to  set  free  a  captive,  and  even  to  forego  such  ransom 
as  might  have  been  expected  in  his  case  as  the  chief 
of  a  large  tribe ;  but  consent  seems  to  have  been 
readily  given,  and  towards  the  end  of  the  year 
Moffat  turned  his  face  homewards,  accompanied  by 
Macheng.  On  his  arrival  at  Shoshong,  the  town  of 
the  Bamangwato,  there  was,  of  course,  much  excite- 
ment, and  Macheng  was  welcomed  back  ;  but  Moffat 
refused  to  give  him  over  to  any  one  but  Sechele,  in 
whose  keeping  he  was  when  captured  by  the  Mate- 
bele,  and  in  accordance  with  whose  request  Moffat 
had  obtained  his  liberation.  On  the  arrival  of  the 
travellers  at  Lithubaruba,  an  immense  concourse  of 
Bechwanas,  representing  eight  different  tribes,  were 
assembled,  and  in  their  presence  Macheng  was 
handed  over,  and  shortly  escorted  back  to  his  own 
people.  The  transaction  was  not  attended  with  the 
best  results.  Sekhomi  gave  way,  but  never  ceased 
to  plot  and  agitate.  After  several  revolutions  and 
countless  wars,  which  nearly  led  to  the  dismember- 
ment of  the  tribe,  Macheng  and  Sekhomi  both  died 
in  exile,  and  the  tribe  is  now  ruled  by  Khame,  the 
son  of  the  latter,  a  man  of  more  than  ordinary 
character  and  enlightenment,  and  a  decided  Christian. 


326  THE   NEW    UNDERTAKINGS. 

Mary  Moffat  to  one  of  her  Children. 

July  13,  1857. 

"  All  pens  have  been  going  except  mine,  and  I  feel  a 
sort  of  hankering  after  it  too,  though  I  dare  not  write 
much  or  it  would  so  far  stupify  me,  as  to  cause  me  to  for- 
get some  part  of  the  provision  necessary  for  your  father's 
long  journey.  You  can  hardly  conceive  of  the  variety  of 
things  which  go  to  equip  a  person  on  such  an  expedition, 
into  a  country  totally  uncivilized.  The  importance  to  the 
mission  of  Bessie's  having  come  out  was  never  more  evi- 
dent than  now.  Your  father  would  hardly  have  seen  it  his 
duty  to  leave  me  now  had  she  not  been  here.  As  it  is,  all 
is  comparatively  easy.  The  poor  heart  will  ache  in  antici- 
pation of  all  these  separations,  and  the  life  of  privation 
and  hardship  which  seems  destined  for  so  many  loved 
members  of  my  family.  I  cannot  help  contemplating  what 
is  before  the  Livingstones  and  yourself,  as  well  as  your 
father  at  his  advanced  age.  Thus  my  sympathy  is  exces- 
sively excited — I  say  excessively,  but  this  I  ascribe  to  my 
physical  debility,  for  what  I  would  have  faced  courageously 
(when  once  convinced  of  my  duty)  seems  now  very  for- 
midable to  me.  I  can,  however,  call  to  mind  how  we  have 
been  sustained  and  strengthened  for  the  last  forty  years, 
and  our  lives  preserved,  till  we  have  seen  the  whole  of  the 
precious  volume  in  print  in  this  language.  Thus  I  take 
courage  for  you  all,  and  doubt  not  you  may  be  honoured 
to  see  greater  things  than  these  in  this  poor  benighted 
country.  The  tribes  in  this  part  do  not  duly  appreciate 
their  privileges,  and  it  may  be  that  they  will  value  them 
more  when  they  see  teachers  passing  them  by ;  and  then 
they  will  have  to  fall  back  on  the  written  word  lilce  the 
Malagasy — and  we  have  seen  how  quick  and  powerful  has 
been  the  sword  of  the  Spirit  there.  Conceive,  then,  our 
joy  on  the  completion  of  such  a  work,  and  we  feel  that  we 
owe  much  to  the  cause  in  which  we  are  engaged  as  a  proof 
of  our  gratitude  for  such  an  honour  put  upon  us." 

On   his   return   from  his  journey  to  Mosilikatse, 


LIVINGSTONE   AT   THE   CAPE.  327 

Moffat  found  the  news  avvaitlnj^  him  that  the  Living- 
stones were  starting:  for  the  Zambezi,  and  were  to 
call  at  the  Cape  on  their  way  ;  and  that  a  large 
party  of  new  missionaries  had  been  appointed  to 
commence  the  new  Interior  Missions.  Mary  Moffat 
had  a  strong  conviction  that  if  her  daughter  once 
went  to  the  Zambezi  she  would  not  return,  and  here 
was  the  chance  for  a  last  meeting.  Moffat  himself 
saw  an  opportunity  of  meeting  and  conferring  with 
the  Doctor,  who,  thouMi  no  loncjer  in  the  service  of 
the  London  Missionary  Society,  was  expected  to  be 
an  important  auxiliary  to  operations  among  the 
Makololo.  The  path  of  duty  seemed  to  be  clear, 
and  the  Moffats  started  from  the  Cape,  using  the 
utmost  expedition,  travelling  over  the  northern 
wastes  of  the  Colony  and  through  the  Karroo  for 
the  first  time  in  their  lives  in  a  horse  waggon.  In 
due  time  the  Government  expedition  arrived,  and 
after  a  short  stay  at  the  Cape  went  on  its  way  ;  and 
Livingstone  said  good-bye  for  the  last  time  to  his 
wife's  parents.  She  had  suffered  so  much  on  the 
voyage  that  it  was  thought  better  for  her  to  accom- 
pany the  missionary  party  overland,  with  the  view 
of  meeting  her  husband  on  the  Zambezi.  It  was 
some  time  before  all  arrived  ;  and  it  was  August 
before  a  start  was  made  for  the  interior.  Helmore 
was  to  go  to  the  Makololo  with  Mackenzie  and 
Price ;  Moffat  to  the  Matebele  with  Sykes  and 
Thomas,  Moffat's  younger  son  was  to  accompany 
the  latter  party,  sustained  in  the  capacity  of  a  mis- 
sionary out  of  Livingstone's  private  resources.  The 
latter,  in  giving  up  official  connection  with  direct 
missionary    work,  felt  a   desire   to    have  a  sort  of 


328  A  LABORIOUS  JOURNEY  FROM  THE  CAPE. 

deputy  to  take  his  place,  and  devoted  more  than 
a  fourth  of  his  Government  salary  to  this  object. 

During  his  stay  in  Cape  Town,  Moffat  met  with 
many  proofs  of  goodwill.  Old  and  faithful  friends, 
whose  friendship  dated  from  days  of  darkness  and 
evil  report,  Avelcomed  him  as  warmly  as  ever  after 
an  absence  of  fifteen  years.  Beyond  the  limits  of 
this  circle  there  was  a  strong  and  widespread  interest 
in  the  new  undertakings,  which  at  that  time  seemed 
to  promise  such  great  things  for  Tropical  South 
Africa.  Sir  George  Grey  was  then  Governor,  and 
showed  an  unusual  and  practical  determination  to 
forward  the  objects  of  the  party. 

Whilst  there  was  much  to  encourage,  there  were 
also  great  difficulties  to  be  overcome.  One  of  those 
severe  droughts,  unhappily  so  common  in  the  history 
of  South  Africa,  made  the  long  journey  from  Cape 
Town  to  the  Orange  River  one  continuous  struggle. 
When  the  various  parties  reached  the  northern  limit 
of  the  Colony,  it  was  after  a  much  more  tedious 
journey  than  usual  and  at  a  ruinous  cost  in  oxen.  It 
was  while  struggling  through  the  Karroo  that  sad 
news  met  the  Moffats  from  Kuruman.  The  Batlap- 
ing,  the  southernmost  of  the  Bechwana  tribes,  had 
hitherto  managed  to  avoid  collision  with  the  Boers. 
Their  country  was  in  itself  not  so  attractive  as  the 
well-wooded  slopes  and  fruitful  vales  of  the  Bahurutse 
and  Bakhatla,  further  to  the  north-east.  Unfortu- 
nately, along  the  lower  Vaal  River  there  were  people, 
mostly  Korannas,  in  scattered  bands,  who  recognized 
no  chief  and  were  guilty  of  occasional  lawless  acts. 
Some  of  the  more  turbulent  spirits  among  the  Bat- 
laping,  notably  one  or  two  of  the  young  chiefs,  fol- 


ANTAGONISM  TO  THE  NEW  MISSIONS.   329 

lowed  their  evil  example,  crossed  the  river  into  the 
Orange  Free  State  in  their  company,  and  put  to 
death  the  men  of  a  Boer  homestead,  bringing  away 
two  of  the  women  as  captives.  These,  it  may  be 
said,  were  not  ill-treated,  and  were  eventually  re- 
stored by  the  intervention  of  Edward  Chapman,  a 
trader.  These  infatuated  freebooters  brought  upon 
themselves  and  upon  their  tribe  severe  chastisement. 
A  Boer  expedition  crossed  the  Vaal  River,  attacked 
the  Batlaping,  whose  principal  chief,  Gasebonwe,  fell 
with  many  of  his  people.  A  large  booty  in  cattle 
and  other  property  was  taken,  and  the  force  retired, 
promising  to  return  shortly  and  to  complete  what 
they  had  begun,  and  to  go  on  to  the  missionary 
station  of  Kuruman,  which  lay  farther  to  the  west- 
ward. 

When  the  missionary  party  began  to  muster  here 
towards  the  end  of  the  year  1858,  so  far  from  an 
extension  of  work  in  the  interior,  it  seemed  doubtful 
whether  Kuruman  itself  would  be  spared. 

The  Free  State  people,  having  carried  out  what 
appeared  to  them  just  reprisals,  had  nothing  more 
to  say  ;  but  the  Transvaal  Boers  were  strongly  dis- 
posed to  carry  matters  farther,  and  as  the  year  1859 
wore  on  it  became  evident  that  mischief  was  brew- 
ing, and  an  expedition  was  on  foot  to  attack  Kuru- 
man and  to  root  out  the  mission  there.  At  the 
same  time  a  document  was  received  from  certain 
local  officials  on  the  north-western  border  of  the 
Transvaal,  informing  Moffat  that  his  intention  to 
accompany  a  party  of  missionaries  to  the  Zambezi 
would  not  be  allowed,  and  that  in  case  of  his  going 
he  would  be  stopped  by  force.     On  these  matters 


330     WORK  IN  AN  INTERVAL   OF  DELAY, 

coming  to  the  ears  of  Sir  George  Grey,  he,  as  High 
Commissioner,  caused  it  to  be  made  known  to  the 
Boers  that  such  things  could  not  be  tolerated ;  and 
the  result  of  this  was  that  the  malcontents  in  the 
Transvaal  found  themselves  bereft  of  support  among 
their  own  people,  and  were  fain  to  drop  their  inten- 
tion. 

Several  months  were,  however,  lost,  owing  to  the 
delay  and  uncertainty  involved  in  these  matters  and 
in  the  extended  preparations  of  such  a  large  party 
of  missionaries  going  to  such  a  distance  into  the 
interior.  The  time  was  occupied  by  Moffat  in  at- 
tending to  the  wants  of  the  station,  and  in  pushing 
through  the  press  an  additional  hymn-book.  His 
wonderful  energy  seemed  irrepressible,  and  to  grow 
at  a  time  of  life  when  other  men  would  have  been 
feeling  inclined  to  take  a  little  rest. 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 

THE  NEW  MISSIONS   TO   THE  NORTH 
1859. 

SOME  changes  of  plan  had  to  be  made.  It  was 
evident  that  the  hope  of  Mary  Livingstone 
meeting  her  husband  at  the  Zambezi  was  too 
uncertain  to  be  counted  upon,  and  she  returned  to 
the  Cape.  Ashton,  so  long  Moffat's  colleague  at 
Kuruman,  was  transferring  his  service  to  the  Griqua 
Mission  at  Philippolis,  and  left  in  the  month  of  May. 
He  had  been  called  in  the  month  of  February  to 
suffer  the  irreparable  loss  of  his  wife,  the  partner  of 
his  work  for  sixteen  years. 

Mackenzie  had  decided  not  to  accompany  this 
expedition  to  the  Makololo  in  the  first  instance,  but 
to  follow  a  year  after. 

Robert  Moffat  to  his  brother  Richard. 

June  22,  1859. 

"  A  short  letter  at  any  time  is  better  than  none,  and  as 
it  will  be  the  last  I  can  address  you  before  leaving  for 
the  interior,  I  embrace  this  opportunity.  The  dark  cloud 
which  has  for  a  time  hung  over  our  prospects  has  to  all 
appearance  dispersed  for  the  present,  and  within  a  month 
we  all  hope  to  take  our  departure  for  the  Matebcle  and 
Makololo  Missions.     We  have  been  put  to  much  trouble 


332  HELMORE'S   PARTY  SETS   OUT, 

and  expense  as  well  as  delay  from  the  threatened  attack  of 
the  Transvaal  Boers  on  the  Kuruman,  on  account  of  the 
removal  of  ^oods  to  the  Colony,  which  have  only  just  been 
brought  back.  The  Boers  appear  to  have  been  shamed  by 
letters  from  the  Governor,  as  well  as  by  influence  exerted 
by  others,  into  the  abandonment  of  their  purpose.  Whether 
they  will  attempt  to  prevent  us  from  passing  their  assumed 
territory  remains  to  be  seen.  The  subject  has  called  for 
fervent  prayer  to  God,  here  and  in  Cape  Town.  These 
prayers  have  been  heard,  and  to  God  would  we  give  all  the 
praise.  We  also  consider  it  an  omen  for  good,  believing 
that  He  who  has  thus  dispersed  the  threatening  storm  will 
still  make  our  way  plain  in  carrying  the  light  of  the  glorious 
gospel  to  the  dark  regions  beyond.  If  all  go  well,  I  shall 
in  all  probability  remain  about  a  twelvemonth  among  the 
Matebele,  or  at  all  events  until  I  shall  see  that,  under  the 
Divine  blessing,  the  mission  is  established. 

"  I  think  it  is  since  I  wrote  to  you  that  Mrs.  Ashton 
died.  Not  long  after,  John's  son,  born  at  Beaufort,  died. 
That  was  soon  followed  by  the  death  of  Mrs.  Sykes  and 
the  child  to  whom  she  had  given  birth.  Since  then  Mr. 
Ross,  at  Lekatlong,  has  lost  a  daughter,  so  that  death  in 
our  missionary  band  is  warning  us  to  be  also  ready.  I  am 
much  as  usual,  but  the  worse  of  wear ;  and  have  been,  ever 
since  our  return  from  the  Cape,  worried  almost  to  death  with 
cares  and  engagements — now,  with  all  the  preparations  of 
myself  and  others,  getting  to  a  climax.  Mrs.  Moffat  is  not 
nearly  so  strong  as  she  was,  but,  like  our  late  beloved 
mother,  will  be  doing." 

On  the  seventh  c(f  July,  1859,  the  first  division 
of  the  party  started  from  Kuruman.  They  were 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Helmore  and  four  children,  and  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Price.  There  was  Tabe,  a  native  teacher 
from  Lekatlong,  who  had  determined  to  accompany 
his  old  missionary,  and  there  was  the  usual  staff  of 
native  attendants.  Every  one  was  impressed  with 
the  gravity  of  the  occasion.    The  end  of  the  journey 


THE   MAKOLOLO   MISSION.  ss5 

was  a  point  a  thousand  miles  farther  into  the  interior, 
to  which  none  of  those  now  going  had  ever  been 
except  a  couple  of  the  native  servants,  who  had 
accompanied  Livingstone  on  one  of  his  former 
journeys.  All  were  happy  in  the  thought  that  a 
start  was  really  being  made,  but  there  was  a  calm 
and  subdued  feeling-  which  befitted  the  occasion. 
They  went  out,  knowing  not  whither  they  went, 
and  what  was  in  store  for  them  ;  but  they  went  in 
faith.  It  was  just  a  year  and  a  half  after  this  that 
Roger  Price  returned,  bringing  with  him  two  orphan 
children  of  the  Helmores  ;  and  they,  with  the  broken 
remnant  of  their  Bechwana  followers,  were  all  that 
remained  of  the  missionary  band.  The  story  of 
the  failure  of  the  Makololo  Mission  is  well  known — 
failure  in  one  sense,  but  not  in  the  highest,  for 
such  episodes  leave  behind  them  influences  which 
can  never  die.  For  some  years  nothing  was  done, 
but  latterly  the  work  has  been  recommenced. 
Arnot,  of  Glasgow,  has  been  for  a  time  alone,  verily 
a  pioneer  of  apostolic  mould  ;  but  the  Coillards  and 
their  niece,  with  their  colleague  Jeanmairet,  have 
now  gone  to  establish  a  mission  for  the  Paris  Society. 
A  week  after  the  Makololo  party  had  started, 
Mr.  Thomas  and  John  Moffat,  with  their  wives, 
left,  to  be  followed  speedily  by  Robert  Moffat  and 
Mr.  Sykes.  Once  more  Mary  Moffat  was  called  to 
part  with  her  husband,  and  with  her  two  daughters 
was  left  in  comparative  solitude ;  there  being,  for  a 
time,  no  one  left  even  to  carry  on  the  public  services 
on  the  station,  except  the  native  elders  of  the  church, 
until  the  Mackenzies  returned  from  their  visit  to  the 
Colony. 


334    HEAVY  LOADS  IN  A    SAND  DESERT. 

Robert  Moffat  overtook  his  own  company  at 
Sechele's,  but  the  Helmores  and  Prices  were  too  far 
on  their  way  ;  and  although  some  communications 
took  place  by  letter,  at  Shoshong  the  roads  diverged 
and  the  Matebele  party  turned  to  the  north-east, 
and  saw  their  companions  no  more. 

From  Sechele's  town  to  Shoshong,  the  head- 
quarters of  the  Bamangwato,  the  road  crossed  a 
corner  of  the  Kalahari  Desert.  The  country  con- 
sisted of  slightly  rolling  plains  of  deep  white  sand. 
In  one  part  of  this  there  was  an  interval  of  sixty 
miles  without  water.  It  was  a  hard  struggle  to  get 
the  train  of  six  heavily-loaded  waggons  across  this 
thirsty  desert.  Progress  was  slower  than  usuaL  On 
former  occasions  Moffat  had  travelled  this  road 
alone,  with  the  object  of  spending  a  few  months 
only  in  the  interior,  but  now  it  was  a  question  of 
carrying  requisites  for  the  permanent  settlement  of 
families.  When  civilized  people  put  together  what 
they  need  for  two  or  three  years  to  come  for  resi- 
dence among  utter  barbarians,  seven  hundred  miles 
from  the  nearest  shop,  they  make  the  discovery — 
if  they  have  not  made  it  before — that  their  wants 
are  neither  few  nor  simple.  By  dint  of  hard  work 
by  day  and  by  night  the  desert  was  crossed,  and 
the  waggons  were  drawn  up  under  the  shadow  of  the 
Bamangwato  mountains. 

From  this  point  onwards  the  sand  ceased,  and 
the  course  lay  through  a  wooded  region,  which 
continued  the  same  in  character  to  the  end  of  their 
journey.  The  country  onwards  had  by  this  time 
become  better  known  than  it  was  when  Moffat  first 
groped  his  way  through  it  five  years  before  ;  but  as 


A   MARCH   THROUGH   THE  FOREST,     335 

yet  there  was  no  beaten  track.  Each  traveller  made 
his  own  way,  and  left  but  little  trace  behind  him. 
So  when  we  had  coasted  round  the  eastern  end  of 
the  hills,  and  had  set  our  faces  to  the  north-east, 
there  lay  before  us  a  region,  as  far  as  the  eye  could 
reach,  almost  level  and  of  a  dark  colour,  on  account 
of  the  unbroken  woodland.  Day  by  day  the  waggons 
followed  in  line.  Two  or  three  pioneers  had  to  walk 
in  front  seeking  the  most  easy  path.  Fortunately, 
as  a  rule,  the  forest  was  not  dense.  The  trees 
stood  fairly  apart,  the  undergrowth  being  mostly 
long,  rank  grass,  through  which  the  foremost  waggon 
ploughed  its  way  as  through  a  field  of  corn,  each 
succeeding  vehicle  finding  progress  easier,  until, 
when  the  whole  train  had  passed,  there  was  some- 
thing like  a  beaten  track.  Here  and  there  ant-hills, 
some  of  huge  side,  had  to  be  avoided,  and  occa- 
sionally great  stones  or  stumps  lay  hidden  in  the 
grass,  and  sorely  tried  the  wheels  and  axles  of  the 
heavy  waggons.  Occasionally  the  forest  was  found 
too  dense,  a  halt  had  to  be  called,  and  all  who  could 
chop,  white  or  black,  had  to  fall  to,  until,  by  their 
united  efforts,  a  way  had  been  cleared.  Foremost 
among  these  would  be  the  veteran  himself,  who 
would  never  allow  the  younger  men  to  get  the  better 
of  him  in  any  form  of  activity.  Hour  by  hour  this 
slow  progress  would  go  on  ;  for  days  no  clear  view  of 
the  horizon  could  be  obtained,  or  indeed  any  view 
more  distant  than  a  few  hundred  yards.  Now,  again, 
the  way  would  be  barred  by  one  of  the  many  chan- 
nels in  which  water  flowed  only  after  the  summer 
rains.  The  river-beds  were  full  of  white  cr\  siallme 
sand,  and  under  this  sand  water  was  to   be  found 


336  THE  EVENING  BIVOUAC, 

pure  and  cool.  It  often  took  a  good  part  of  a  day 
to  get  the  waggons  down  and  up  the  steep  banks 
and  across  the  expanse  of  sand,  often  eighty  or  a 
hundred  yards  broad.  Each  day  as  the  sun  began 
to  sink  behind  the  tree-tops  a  halt  would  be  called, 
a  space  sufficiently  open  would  be  fixed  upon,  the 
waggons  were  drawn  into  a  circle,  the  oxen  unyoked 
and  allowed  to  graze,  while  all  hands  were  again  at 
work  felling  mimosa  bushes,  dragging  them  to  the 
waggons,  and  making  a  kraal.  Some  would  be  col- 
lecting large  heaps  of  firewood.  As  the  shades  of 
evening  fell,  the  oxen  would  be  enclosed  in  the 
kraal,  the  fires  would  be  lighted,  cooking  would 
commence  in  real  earnest.  V/hen  the  travellers 
were  ready  for  rest  a  call  would  be  sounded,  all 
would  assemble  at  one  fire,  a  hymn  would  be  sung 
where  no  such  sound  was  ever  heard  before,  prayer 
would  be  offered,  and  in  another  hour  nothing  was 
to  be  heard  but  the  chirping  of  the  beetles,  the 
snoring  of  the  sleepers,  and  the  occasional  inarticulate 
sounds  by  which  the  tired  oxen  showed  that  they 
were  contentedly  chewing  their  cud. 

Very  liitle  disturbance  was  experienced  from  wild 
beasts.  The  season  was  dry ;  the  game  had  moved 
to  more  favoured  localities,  and  the  lions  had  fol- 
lowed suit.  Occasionally  the  distant  roar  of  the 
latter  was  to  be  heard  during  the  silence  of  the  night, 
but  it  was  not  unpleasant  at  a  distance.  The  occa- 
sional dismal  howl,  or  rather  yell,  of  the  prowling 
hysena,  who  used  to  hang  about  the  outskirts  of  the 
camp,  was  not  much  regarded ;  and  still  less  the 
cheerful  yelping  of  the  jackals.  Not  often  a  .sudden 
hubbub  at  one  of  the  fires  made  night  hideous,  uhen 


THE   APPROACH   TO  MATEBELELAND.   337 

it  would  be  discovered  that  a  snake  or  a  larger 
scorpion  than  usual  had  insinuated  himself  amoi  g 
the  sleepers  round  the  camp-fires.  The  nights  were 
always  still ;  even  if  it  blew  during  the  day  the 
nights  were  calm,  and  at  this  season  of  the  year 
cloudless,  so  that  there  would  be  a  bright  moon,  or 
starlight.  As  the  dawn  crept  up  the  sky  the  camp 
would  awake  to  life,  the  still  burning  fires  would  be 
replenished,  the  oxen  turned  out  to  graze,  and  the 
coffee  kettles  put  on  for  a  hasty  breakfast  before 
the  start.  Once  or  twice  there  were  forced  marches 
for  want  of  water,  meat  would  run  short  on  account 
of  the  scarcity  of  game,  an  axle  would  break  by  a 
waggon  running  against  a  stump  or  rock  ;  but  the 
energy  of  the  leader  rose  over  each  impediment. 
He  seemed  to  have  the  strength  of  three  men,  and 
was  here,  there,  and  everywhere  in  turn. 

At  length,  twenty-six  days  after  leaving  Shoshong, 
signs  began  to  appear  of  approach  to  the  land  of  the 
Matebele.  The  first  outposts  of  the  Makalaka,  a 
tributary  people,  were  reached,  and  from  this  point 
onwards,  a  distance  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles 
to  the  headquarters  of  the  chief,  the  journey  was 
through  an  inhabited  country. 

On  their  progress  through  Bechwanaland  it  had 
been  necessary  for  some  of  the  party  to  buy  oxen 
with  which  to  fill  up  their  dwindling  teams.  It 
proved  that  these  were  infected  with  "  lung  sick- 
ness," a  disease  which  had  ravaged  South  Africa,  but 
which  had  never  reached  the  dominions  of  Mosili- 
katse.  Moffat  saw  that  it  would  not  do  to  run  any 
risks  of  connecting  the  advent  of  the  gospel  among 
the  Matebele  with  that  of  such  a  scourge  as  a  pes- 

23 


338       WAGGONS  DRAWN  BY   WARRIORS. 

tilence  among-  the  myriads  of  their  cattle.  On  his 
arrival  at  the  first  outposts  he  sent  forward  messen- 
gers explaining  this  to  the  chief,  and  proposing  that 
the  draught  cattle  of  the  expedition  should  be  left  in 
quarantine,  whilst  Mosilikatse  might  supply  his  own 
oxen  to  bring  the  party  to  headquarters.  A  second 
message  had  to  be  sent  before  the  chief  could  be 
brought  to  see  the  merits  of  the  case  ;  and  then  he 
gave  orders  that  the  oxen  were  to  be  left  as  pro- 
posed, but  that  as  his  own  draught  oxen  were  "all 
dead "  he  would  send  men  to  drag  the  waggons. 
Moffat  knew  well  enough  what  value  to  attach  to 
ihe  statement  about  the  oxen,  but  it  was  best  to  let 
things  take  their  course,  and  to  fall  back  on  patience, 
a  commodity  without  which  little  can  be  done  in  the 
interior  of  Africa.  In  due  time  a  band  of  warriors 
appeared,  but  they  were  only  eighty  in  number — 
not  half  enough  for  the  task  of  dragging  six  heavily- 
loaded  waggons  over  hill  and  down  dale,  through 
gullies  and  brushwood,  for  upwards  of  a  hundred 
miles.  After  ten  days'  valiant  struggle  on  their  part, 
the  slow  progress  made  convinced  the  despot  that 
Lis  whim  could  not  be  gratified,  and  at  last  the  oxen — 
which  he  had  kept  back  for  reasons  best  known  to 
himself — made  their  appearance. 

Unfortunately,  though  originally  trained,  it  w^as 
years  since  most  of  them  had  been  in  the  yoke.  A 
whole  day  was  taken  up  in  compelling  the  unwilling 
submission  of  a  sufficient  number  to  drag  three  of 
the  waggons,  and  progress  was  but  slow.  At  last, 
however,  on  the  twenty-eighth  of  October,  the  party 
approached  the  chief's  camp — some  waggons  drawn 
by  oxen,  others  by  men.     Mosilikatse,  with  a  very 


THE    CHIEF  HESITATES.  339 

small  number  of  people,  was  encamped  in  a  dense, 
gloomy  forest  on  the  banks  of  the  Impembezi. 

He  received  his  old  friend  with  his  usual  cor- 
diality, but  as  time  wore  on  it  became  evident  that 
something  was  wrong.  The  younger  missionaries, 
who  had  come  to  settle  in  the  country,  and  to  whom 
it  was  of  importance  to  provide  for  the  future  by 
getting  seed  into  the  ground,  as  the  rainy  season 
was  commencing,  were  naturally  eager  to  get  to 
work.  In  this  their  senior  and  leader  fully  sympa- 
thized, and  many  were  his  earnest  representations  to 
the  chief  that  it  was  desirable  at  once  to  point  out 
a  place  for  a  station.  From  day  to  day  he  was  met 
with  evasions  and  delays.  The  days  became  weeks. 
The  summer  advanced,  and  the  wayworn  travellers 
had  to  endure  days  of  tropical  heat,  with  a  succes- 
sion of  equally  tropical  thunderstorms,  with  no  better 
shelter  than  the  canvas  tilts  of  their  waggons  and 
the  tents  that  they  had  pitched.  Happily  their 
camp  was  on  a  slope  of  hard  ground,  which  did  not 
get  muddy.  It  was  a  trying  time  to  all;  not  least 
so  to  the  older  missionary,  who  could  not  under- 
stand the  change  that  had  come  over  the  chief,  and 
who  began,  not  without  reason,  to  suspect  that  he 
was  repenting  of  the  permission  he  had  so  freely 
given  for  the  establishment  of  a  mission  in  his 
country.  This  suspicion  proved  to  be  correct. 
During  Moffat's  visit  to  the  Cape  in  the  previous 
year  Mosilikatse  had  sent  messengers  out  to  visit 
Mahura,  then  chief  of  the  Batlaping,  at  Taung.  These 
were  present  when  the  Boer  attack  upon  the  Bat- 
laping took  place  ;  and  the  Batlaping.  soured  against 
all  white  men,  had  sent  a  message  that  missionaries 


340  A    SEASON   OF  SUSPENSE. 

not  only  destroyed  the  old  customs,  such  as  poly- 
gamy, but  that  wherever  they  came  the  Boers 
followed  in  due  course.  The  experience — which 
the  Matebele  had  not  forgotten — of  the  advent  of 
the  American  missionaries  at  Mosega,  followed  so 
closely  by  the  attack  of  the  Boers,  gave  colour 
to  this  charge ;  and  now  that  this  large  party  of 
new-comers  were  actually  on  the  spot,  not  merely 
as  visitors,  but  to  settle  in  the  country,  the  fears, 
perhaps  more  of  his  people  than  of  the  chief  himself, 
were  aroused,  and  the  question  was  in  actual  debate 
as  to  whether  the  settlement  should  be  allowed. 

This  suspense  was  not  even  relieved  by  the  con- 
solation that  the  missionaries  were  in  contact  with 
the  people,  for  there  were  scarcely  any  people  on 
the  spot,  it  being  Mosilikatse's  own  encampment, 
and  not  a  town.  As  time  wore  on  things  got  worse 
instead  of  better.  At  the  beginning  of  December 
the  chief,  without  a  moment's  warning,  broke  up  his 
camp  and  removed  with  his  waggons  to  a  town 
at  some  distance,  telling  the  missionaries  that  he 
would  send  people  with  them  to  the  spot  where 
they  were  to  settle,  and  where  he  would  join  them 
afterwards.  As  he  did  not  supply  them  with  oxen 
for  their  waggons,  it  was  difficult  to  understand 
what  he  meant,  and  for  a  fortnight  longer  things 
seemed  as  gloomy  as  they  well  could  do.  Day  after 
day  the  missionaries  waited,  their  waggon  supplies 
diminishing,  and  the  chief  having  apparently  for- 
gotten that  they  were  dependent  upon  him  for  meat, 
for  there  was  no  one  from  whom  they  could  buy. 

About  the  middle  of  the  month  there  was  a  sud- 
den change  in   the  whole  aspect  of  affairs.      One 


SETTLEMENT  AT  IN Y ATI.  341 

morning  two  headmen  arrived  with  beaming'  faces. 
They  seemed  to  have  had  a  load  taken  off  their 
minds.  Mosihkatse  was  on  his  way  to  Inyati,  and 
had  sent  two  teams  of  oxen,  with  which  the  mis- 
sionaries were  to  go  and  join  him  there  at  once. 
No  time  was  lost  ;  tents  were  struck,  waggons 
packed,  and  a  start  made.  The  distance  was  about 
twenty-five  miles,  but  it  took  a  week's  hard  work  to 
get  to  the  end  of  the  journey.  Owing  to  the  rains, 
some  parts  of  the  country  were  little  better  than  a 
morass.  On  the  twenty-second  of  December,  after 
almost  incredible  exertions,  the  whole  party  was  as 
sembled  on  the  outskirts  of  the  kraal  of  Inyati.  All 
was  settled.  A  spot  which  looked  well  for  a  station, 
about  a  mile  from  the  town,  was  pointed  out ;  and 
after  spending  Christmas  Day  together  in  their 
camp,  the  last  mile  was  travelled  with  no  little 
satisfaction,  and  the  new-comers  felt  that  they  had 
reached  home.  Each  selected  for  himself  a  tree 
under  which  to  pitch  his  tent,  until  he  should  have 
raised  a  more  solid  dwelling.  Moffat  had  now  ac- 
complished one  stage  of  his  undertaking.  To  him 
the  experience  of  the  previous  two  months  had  been 
perhaps  the  sorest  trial  of  faith  that  he  had  known 
in  his  life.  At  one  period  even  he  had  wavered  in 
doubt  whether  it  would  be  possible  to  establish  the 
mission ;  and  yet,  while  harassed  with  doubt  himself, 
and  chafing  under  the  suspense  and  enforced  inac- 
tivity of  these  two  months,  it  was  necessary  for  him 
to  prop  up  the  weaker  faith  of  his  companions,  who 
had  never  seen  Mosilikatse  under  any  more  favour- 
able aspect,  and,  not  having  the  same  strong  per- 
sonal   bond    of   friendship,  were    inclined    to    think 


342  AFFECTIONS  WEANED  FROM  THE  WORLD. 

that  whilst  other  doors  were  open  to  the  gospel,  it 
was  wasting  time  to  press  its  acceptance  upon  a  chief 
and  people  so  unwilling. 

Maiy  Moffat  to  her  Brother-in-law. 

Feb.  22,  i860. 

"  My  dear  Brother  Richard, — It  is  now  so  very  long 
since  we  heard  from  you,  that  we  hardly  know  how  things 
are  with  our  Scotch  friends.  So  many  of  our  contempo- 
raries are  dropping  off  one  after  the  other  that  we  scarcely 
expect  to  receive  a  post  without  some  such  information, 
and  we  cannot  help  feeling  it  will  soon  be  said  of  us  too, 
'  They  are  gone.'  Well,  the  grand  thing  is  to  be  found  pre- 
pared when  the  summons  does  come,  having  our  loins  girt 
about  and  our  lamps  burning,  waiting  the  arrival  of  the 
Bridegroom.  If  I  had  not  felt  it  before,  I  should  do  so 
now,  that  all  earthly  things  are  vain  and  trifling,  except  we 
are  enabled  by  Divine  grace  to  use  them  to  His  glory. 
My  strength  is  gone,  and  I  begin  to  feel  myself  of  so  little 
use  in  the  world  that  my  affections  are  more  and  more 
loosened  from  it,  and  I  feel  that  I  could  very  willingly 
leave  it  ;  for  I  know  in  whom  I  have  believed,  and,  when 
heart  and  flesh  fail,  He  will  keep  that  which  I  have  com- 
mitted unto  Him.  I  have  very  little  hope  of  meeting  you 
on  this  side  Jordan,  but  if  we  may  meet  on  the  other  side 
it  will  make  rich  amends  for  all  the  pain  and  separation 
here.  Your  brother,  my  dear  husband,  is  much  more  likely 
for  life  than  I  am,  yet  I  think  he  feels  very  much  as  I  do 
on  the  subject — that  is,  he  lives  under  a  conviction  that  his 
time  here  may  be  short.  He  has  been  called  to  an  arduous 
duty,  that  of  commencing  a  new  mission  amongst  a 
thoroughly  barbarous  and  naturally  unpromising  people, 
because  under  the  dominion  of  an  absolute  tyrant,  to  whom 
they  yield  all  the  powers  of  body  and  mind  in  the  most 
abject  subjection.  Nothing  short  of  Almighty  power  can 
make  them  dare  to  receive  that  instruction  which  is  now 
offered  to  them  ;  but  the  Saviour  who  said  '  Go,'  has  also 
said,  '  All  power  is  given  to  me  in  heaven  and  earth.'     As 


MISCONCEPTIONS   OF  NATIVES.         ^i^ 

you  will  perceive  from  Robert's  letter,  they  have  had  their 
discouragements  from  the  very  outset,  though  eventually 
light  dawned  upon  them.  It  was  especially  painful  to  him, 
who  was  expected  by  his  influence  to  have  ensured  for 
them  a  more  cordial  reception.  The  enemy  had  been  at 
work,  and  fears  had  been  excited.  We  can  hardly  wonder 
that  subjects  of  Mosilikatse,  after  remaining  with  the 
enemies  of  the  gospel  in  this  quarter  for  some  months, 
should  have  imbibed  notions  such  as  they  did,  and  should 
take  them  to  the  ears  of  their  master  ;  and  then  he  had 
so  many  months  to  con  over  them  before  they  could  be 
counteracted. 

"Nearly  the  same  thing  took  place  in  the  commencement 
of  this  mission.  After  Mr.  Campbell  had  promised  to  send 
teachers,  the  enemy  crept  in  and  said,  'Do  not  receive  them ; 
they  are  agents  of  the  Cape  Government,  just  coming  to 
tame  your  young  men,  who  will  then  be  taken  to  become 
soldiers.'  Had  your  brother  urged  the  commencing  of  this 
mission  he  would  have  had  more  painful  exercises  than 
what  he  had  ;  but  he  had  not  done  so,  but  went  in  obedience 
to  the  wish  of  the  Directors,  though  much  to  his  own  satis- 
faction, for  he  and  I  had  often  wondered  together  what  end 
was  to  be  answered  by  all  the  intercourse  he  had  had  with 
that  people,  and  the  extraordinary  attachment  of  that  poor 
savage  to  him.  When,  therefore,  the  proposal  came  from 
London,  the  question  seemed  to  be  answered,  and  we  both 
stood  ready  to  make  any  sacrifice  to  which  we  might  be 
called  for  so  great  an  object.  I  feel  much  for  him  at  his 
age,  for  though  yet  strong,  he  is  not  what  he  once  was,  and 
it  costs  him  more  to  labour  so  hard  and  endure  privations 
than  it  did  in  middle  life  ;  and  I  know  him  too  well  to  sup- 
pose, whatever  be  his  resolutions,  that  he  will  not  have 
much  hard  labour  and  consequent  fatigue  while  he  does 
remain." 


CHAPTER  XXXII. 

ESTABLISHMENT  OF  THE  MATEBELE  MISSION. 

i860. 

THOUGH  his  principal  object  was  gained 
when  Moffat  saw  his  younger  companions 
settled  at  Inyati,  yet  the  labours  which  re- 
mained were  not  few  or  small.  The  first  six  months 
of  the  year  i860  were  a  time  of  incessant  toil,  in 
which  none  wrought  harder  than  he.  There  is  no 
lack  of  manual  labour  in  all  new  undertakings  in  an 
uncivilized  country.  There  were  houses  to  be  built, 
waggons  to  be  repaired,  garden  ground  to  be  broken 
up.  Early  and  late  Moffat  was  to  be  found  at  work, 
always  at  work — it  might  be  at  the  sawpit,  or  the 
blacksmith's  forge,  or  the  carpenter's  bench,  or  aiding 
the  younger  men  where  their  own  knowledge  and 
skill  failed  them.  In  addition  to  all  this,  the  chief 
must  have  a  share  of  his  company.  It  had  been 
hoped  that  regular  communication  might  be  estab- 
lished with  the  Livingstone  expedition  on  the  Zam- 
bezi by  way  of  Matebeleland,  and  as  soon  as  matters 
had  fairly  settled  down  Moffat  addressed  himself  to 
the  task  of  persuading  Mosilikatse  to  give  aid  to  the 
project ;  but  it  soon  became  clear  that  the  plan  could 


FEVER  IN   THE   CAMP.  345 

not  be  carried  out.  It  was  with  a  good  deal  of  diffi- 
culty that  the  chief  was  induced  to  send  a  party  to 
the  Victoria  Falls  with  a  post  for  Helmore  and  Price. 
It  was  more  evident  than  ever  that  he  was  deter- 
mined not  to  have  the  country  opened  in  that  direc- 
tion. It  was  quite  enough  for  his  suspicious  nature 
to  have  one  outlet  to  the  world  by  way  of  Kuru- 
man.  There  he  and  his  people  feared  no  danger ; 
but  elsewhere  the  policy  pursued  was  one  of  abso- 
lute isolation.  Such  was  that  isolation,  that  nothing 
could  be  learned  of  what  had  become  of  the  other 
missionary  party  at  this  time  lying  stricken  with 
fever  at  Linyanti.  It  was  not  till  more  than  twelve 
months  later  that  the  little  company  at  Inyati  heard 
the  news  that  the  Makololo  Mission  was  broken  up, 
and  that  a  mere  remnant  had  returned  to  Kuruman 
to  tell  the  tale  ;  yet  a  fortnight's  travelling,  had  the 
way  been  open,  would  have  brought  the  news. 

As  time  went  on  it  became  apparent  that  the 
Matebele  country  was  not  so  entirely  free  from  fever 
as  had  been  hoped,  though  much  more  healthy  than 
the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  Zambezi.  Fever  in- 
vaded the  missionary  camp.  The  Europeans  enjoyed 
immunity  from  attack,  but  the  Bechwanas  from 
Kuruman  seemed  especially  liable  to  its  inroads. 
For  a  while  a  stop  was  put  to  work,  and  gloom 
overspread  the  little  community.  Only  one  fatal 
case  occurred,  and  as  the  cooler  weather  drew  on, 
the  invalids  plucked  up  courage,  work  was  resumed, 
and  all  was  hopeful  again. 

In  the  Stinday  at  Home  for  1875  there  is  a  paper 
by  Moffat  himself,  of  which  the  following  paragraph 
relates  to  this  juncture  : 


346  DEATH  OF  MARELOLA, 

"  There  was  a  young  man  among  those  engaged  to 
accompany  the  missionaries  from  the  Kuruman  to  the 
Matebele.  He  had  been  for  sometime  one  of  the  inquirers, 
and  would  soon  have  been  received  into  church  fellowship. 
He  was  clever  and  intelligent.  After  feome  months  our 
camp  was  visited  by  the  well-known  African  fever.  Every- 
thing was  done  that  our  knowledge  or  experience  could 
suggest.  It  was  not  long  before  most  of  the  patients  were 
recovering.  Marelol^,  the  young  man,  had  a  relapse.  He 
became  insensible  to  all  around  him,  and  to  every  entreaty 
to  take  something  which  might  again  do  him  good.  He 
lay  for  two  days  motionless  in  a  comatose  condition,  from 
which  no  effort  could  rouse  him.  On  the  evening  of  the 
second  day  I  was  at  work  repairing  my  waggon,  about  thirty 
yards  from  the  house  in  which  the  sick  man  lay.  I  heard 
some  one  singing  with  a  strong,  clear  voice.  Inquiring  who 
was  singing  to  the  sick  man,  '  It  is  himself,'  was  the  reply. 
I  hastened  to  the  spot,  and  found  it  even  so.  He  was 
lying  as  I  had  left  him  about  an  hour  before,  but  with  a  firm 
voice  he  was  still  singing  one  of  our  hymns,  which  em- 
bodied some  of  the  striking  parts  of  the  84th  Psalm. 
When  I  entered  and  knelt  down  beside  him  he  was  singing 
the  last  verse,  to  which  I  listened  with  inexpressible  feelings 
of  gratitude,  presuming  that  there  was  a  change  for  the 
best.  I  addressed  him — he  was  deaf;  I  tried  to  arouse  him 
— it  was  vain  ;  I  felt  his  pulse — it  was  performing  its  last 
beats :  and  while  I  was  looking  at  his  motionless  lips,  his 
spirit  departed  to  that  heavenly  Zion  about  which  he  had 
just  been  singing." 

In  the  month  of  June  Moffat  felt  that  his  work  at 
Inyati  was  done.  He  had  spared  no  labour  of  body 
or  of  mind  to  aid  in  planting  the  mission.  So  far 
as  his  personal  influence  could  go,  he  had  done  all. 
He  was  willing  to  have  remained  longer  if  there  had 
been  anything  for  him  to  add  to  the  exceeding 
abundance  of  his  services.  He  had  smoothed  a 
hundred  difficulties,  such  as  must  of  necessity  arise 


MOFFAT  LEAVES   THE   MATEDELE.     347 

with  a  chief  and  people  so  jealous  and  suspicious, 
and  he  had  taught  his  younger  brethren  lessons  of 
patient  and  humble  self-devotion  which  none  of  them 
could  ever  forsfet. 

On  Sunday  morning,  the  seventeenth  of  June,  he 
walked  up  to  the  chief's  kraal  for  the  purpose  of 
speaking  to  Mosilikatse  and  his  people  for  the  last 
time  on  the  great  themes  of  life,  death,  and  eternity. 
As  we  followed  him  along  the  narrow  path  from  our 
camp  to  the  town,  about  a  mile  distant,  winding 
through  fields  and  around  patches  of  the  uncleared, 
primeval  forest,  no  step  was  more  elastic  and  no 
frame  more  upright  than  his.  In  spite  of  unceasing 
toil  amid  tropical  heats  and  miasmatic  exhalations, 
in  spite  of  cares  and  disappointments,  his  wonderful 
energy  seemed  unabated.  The  old  chief  was,  as 
usual,  in  his  large  court^^ard,  and  gave  kindly  greet- 
ing. They  were  a  strange  contrast  as  they  sat  side 
by  side — the  Matebele  tyrant,  and  his  friend  the 
messenger  of  peace.  The  word  of  command  was 
given  ;  the  warriors  filed  in  and  ranged  themselves 
in  a  great  semicircle,  sitting  on  the  ground  ;  the 
women  crept  as  near  as  they  could,  behind  huts 
and  other  points  of  concealment,  and  all  listened  in 
breathless  silence  to  the  last  words  of  "  Moshete." 
He  himself  knew  that  they  were  his  last  words,  and 
that  his  work  in  Matebeleland  was  now  given  over  to 
younger  hands.  It  was  a  solemn  sqrvice,  and  closetl 
the  long  series  of  such  in  which  the  friend  of  Mosi- 
likatse had  striven  to  pierce  the  dense  darkness  of 
soul  which  covered  him  and  his  people. 

On  the  morrow  there  was  the  last  leave-taking, 
and  Moffat  started  for  his  distant  home.     That  was 


348    THE   MATEBELE   MISSION  AN  ENIGMA, 

twenty-four  years  ago.  Of  the  three  men  whom  he 
left  in  the  work,  one  has  passed  to  his  rest,  another 
has  retired  from  the  field,  and  the  third,  William 
Sykes,  is  still  at  his  post.  Mosilikatse,  faithful  to 
his  promise,  was  a  steady  friend  to  the  new  mission- 
aries ;  and  in  this  respect  his  son,  Lobengula,  has 
followed  in  his  steps,  but  the  mission  has  as  yet  been 
without  visible  success.  Time  only  will  tell  what 
has  been  the  meaning  of  this  strange  history.  It  is 
more  than  fifty  years  since  Moffat  first  visited  the 
Matebele.  In  the  meantime  attempts  had  been  made 
by  the  Paris  missionaries  and  by  the  American  board 
to  establish  missions  among  them,  but  in  vain. 
Sykes  and  those  now  associated  with  him  have  been 
able  to  maintain  a  foothold  in  the  country,  but  it  is 
difficult  to  see  any  result  commensurate  with  the 
existence  of  a  mission  for  twenty-five  years.  The 
day  will  declare  it ! 

Mary  Moffat,  meanwhile  at  Kuruman,  writes  to 
her  son  on  the  fourth  of  April  : 

"  On  the  tenth  of  next  month  it  will  be  twenty-five 
years  since  I  parted  with  your  father  when  he  visited  the 
tyrant  Mosilikatse  the  second  time,  he  being  then  the  terror 
of  the  tribes  in  the  latitudes  north  of  us,  and  it  was  deemed 
prudent  to  conciliate  him  that  the  interior  might  not  be 
closed  against  the  progress  of  the  gospel.  How  little  did 
I  then  think  that  the  very  babe  who  sat  before  me  on  his 
nurse's  lap  was  destined  to  go  to  that  savage  people  to  hold 
before  them  the  lamp  of  eternal  life.  Unable  as  I  then 
was  to  hold  you  in  rny  embrace,  your  sweet  smiles,  which 
in  my  solitude  I  so  often  witnessed,  are  yet  engraven  on 
my  now  shattered  memory.  Often  did  I  wonder  how  that 
dear  child  could  seem  to  love  me  so  much,  though  I  could 
not  fondle  him  or  have  him  to  drink  at  life's  fountain.  I 
could  only  laugh  and   talk  very  feebly  then.     Now,  after 


ENCOURAGING   CONSIDERATIONS.        349 

what  I  have  been  spared  to  see,  those  sweet  infant  smiles 
so  tenaciously  held  in  my  remembrance  seem  to  have  had 
language.  Methinks  they  said,  '  Cheer  up,  dear  mother  ; 
though  you  think  your  course  is  nearly  finished,  I  am 
destined  to  live  to  fulfil  your  heart's  desire.  I  shall  yet 
become  a  missionary  to  that  very  people  for  whom  you 
have  so  cheerfully  parted  from  him  who  could,  better  than 
any  one  else,  have  succoured  and  cherished  you  in  the 
season  of  debility  and  weakness.' 

"  In  those  lone  hours  I  had  many  meditations,  as  a 
matter  of  course,  and  I  did  then  fondly  hope  that  the 
sacrifice  I  had  made  was  acceptable  to  my  Lord  and 
Master  ;  but  little  did  I  think  that  you,  my  dear  son, 
would  so  many  years  afterward  have  your  name  lisped  by 
those  rude  barbarians  as  their  missionary.  But  so  it  is, 
and  may  you  and  dear  E.  have  grace  to  persevere  with 
your  colleagues  till  you  see  the  influences  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  descending  upon  those  poor  ignorant  men  and 
women,  till  of  such  stones  God  does  raise  up  children  unto 
Abraham.  Wonders  and  miracles  of  grace  are  being  wrought 
in  all  parts  of  the  world  where  the  light  of  the  Word  has 
reached,  and  why  not  among  the  Matebele  ?  Almighty 
power  is  needful  to  enlighten  the  most  polished,  as  well  as 
those  who  have  not  one  theological  idea,  and  the  Saviour 
has  said,' All  power  is  given  unto  me  in  heaven  and  in  earth.' 
Why,  then,  should  we  doubt  .''  You  may  all  have  much  to 
suffer,  many,  many,  privations  to  endure,  and  great  sacrifices 
to  make  ;  but  nothing  is  so  calculated  to  quiet  our  spirits 
under  such  trials  as  to  remember  what  Jesus  forsook  for  us, 
and  what  He  endured  through  life  from  poverty  and  shame, 
independent  of  the  sacrifice  on  the  cross.  His  was  all  for 
poor  perishing  worms  ;  while  we  are  but  worms,  doing  what 
we  can  for  fellow-worms.  Have  good  courage.  We  can 
never  stoop  as  the  Saviour  did — He,  the  mighty  God. 
Many  modern  missionaries  have  suffered  as  much  as  you 
may  be  called  to  do,  but  what  glorious  fruits  do  we  now 
see  ! " 

Moffat  found  himself  once  more  in  his  own  home, 


350    COLLAPSE  OF  THE  MAKOLOLO  MISSION. 

after  an  absence  of  twelve  months.  Ashton  also 
was  returning.  The  duties  of  the  station  had  been 
carried  on  for  a  time  by  Mackenzie,  who  had  now 
left  to  follow  his  comrades  to  the  Makololo,  but  only 
to  meet  Price  coming  back,  and  the  mission  aban- 
doned. Kuruman,  which  had  been  for  a  long  time 
little  more  than  a  calling-place  for  passing  travellers, 
was  again  to  become  a  scene  of  systematic  and 
settled  labour. 

Robert  Moffat  to  Dr.  Tidman. 

Nov.  12,  i860. 

"  It  is  only  four  days  since  I  forwarded  a  letter  to  you 
which  contained  what  little  information  had  reached  us 
respecting  our  Makololo  brethren.  It  was  favourable,  but 
alas  !  alas !  it  only  seemed  to  lift  us  up  that  we  might  be 
plunged  into  the  depth  of  sorrow  Helmore,  the  amiable, 
the  unwearied,  the  apostolic  Helmore,  and  his  kind  and 
devoted  wife  are  no  more  inhabitants  of  this  lower  world. 
This  distressing  intelligence  reached  us  last  night  by  one 
of  our  people  who  had  been  on  an  elephant  hunt  as  far  as 
the  Victoria  Falls.  He  there  met  with  people  from  Lin- 
yanti,  who,  when  asked  about  the  welfare  of  the  mis- 
sionaries, replied,  in  the  fashion  of  the  country,  that  they 
were  all  dead  with  the  fever." 

This  sad  story  proved  to  be  to  a  large  extent  true. 
It  was,  however,  ascertained  that  Mr.  Price,  with 
the  remnant  of  the  party,  had  returned,  and  that 
they  were  somewhere  on  the  road  back  again.  A 
long  time  had,  however,  elapsed,  and  no  further 
tidings  had  come.  Moffat,  ever  ready,  determined 
to  set  out  in  search.  He  had  a  difficulty  in  getting 
people  to  go  with  him,  but  at  last  succeeded.  He 
met  what  remained  of  the  original  expedition,  and 
the  Mackenzies  with  them,  near  Shoshong,  and  all 
returned  sorrowfully  to  Kuruman. 


INTEREST  IN   THE   INTERIOR.  351 

Whilst  carrying  on  their  own  work  at  Kuruman, 
the  Moffats  were  ever  looking  to  the  north-east. 
The  Makololo  Mission  had  collapsed,  but  that  among 
the  Matebele  still  held  its  own,  and  it  was  with 
intense  interest  that  every  line  from  the  missionaries 
was  read.  No  pains  were  spared  to  supply  their 
wants,  and  to  convey  to  them  in  their  great  isolation 
news  from  the  outer  world.  This  was  no  easy  matter 
to  accomplish  at  such  a  distance,  and  among  a  people 
so  disliked  and  shunned  by  their  neighbours  as  the 
Matebele.  The  welfare  of  the  mission  at  Inyati 
was  bound  up  with  that  of  their  own  at  Kuruman. 
There  was  a  family  tie,  but,  over  and  above  this, 
there  was  that  entire  consecration  to  the  supreme 
object  of  carrying  the  gospel  to  the  heathen  which 
overflowed  every  other  consideration.  Another  link 
of  personal  and  family  interest  was  to  be  formed. 
On  the  twenty-second  of  October,  1861,  Bessie 
Moffat  became  the  wife  of  Roger  Price,  and  in  the 
course  of  a  short  time  went  with  him  to  Shoshong, 
in  the  hope  of  the  way  being  opened  to  join  the 
Matebele  Mission.  This  object  was  afterwards 
relinquished,  and  the  Prices  took  up  the  work  among 
the  Bakwena  of  Sechele,  that  station  having  become 
vacant  by  the  retirement  of  the  Hanoverian  mis- 
sionaries. 


CHAPTER  XXXIII. 

FAMIL  Y  BEREA  VEMENTS. 

* 

1862-1867. 

HEN  Moffat  had  returned  from  meeting 
what  remained  of  the  Makololo  Mission,  his 
work  north  of  Kuruman  was  done,  so  far  as 
his  personal  presence  was  concerned.  No  more  was 
he  to  be  seen  cHmbing  the  hills  of  the  Bakwena  and 
Bamanofwato.  No  more  was  his  voice  to  be  heard 
pleading  with  chiefs  in  their  courtyards,  and  with 
their  people  in  assembled  congregations,  beseeching 
them,  as  he  was  never  weary  of  doing,  to  put  aside 
their  feuds  and  fightings,  and,  more  than  all,  their 
brutish  indifference  to  the  gospel,  and  to  arise  and 
come  into  the  light.  But  the  stream  of  his  interest 
flowed  as  strong  as  ever.  Both  he  and  his  faithful 
partner  watched  with  intense  anxiety  the  progress 
of  events  in  the  Matebele  country.  Whilst  regard- 
ing with  goodwill  the  newly-established  Hanoverian 
Missions,  it  was  natural  that  their  feelings  should  be 
most  deeply  stirred  on  the  behalf  of  those  who  still 
further  on  were  trying  to  plant  the  gospel  among  a 
people  for  whom  Moffat  had  done  much,  and  had 
endeavoured  to  do  so  much  more 


CARE   FOR    THOSE   IN   THE   INTERIOR.  353 

They  deemed  no  care  or  trouble  too  great.  No 
opportunity  or  shadow  of  an  opportunity  was  lost  of 
sending  post-bags  and  supplies  ;  and  when,  after 
months  of  isolation  at  Inyati,  the  little  community 
there  would  be  roused  into  joy  and  excitement  by  an 
arrival  from  the  far  South  and  news  from  the  outer 
world,  there  were  always  words  of  warm  encourage- 
ment from  Kuruman,  and  stores  of  practical  sym- 
pathy from  the  patriarchal  pair,  who  seemed  to  live- 
over  again  in  Matebeleland  their  old  hardships  and 
struggles  in  the  early  days  at  Lattakoo. 

It  was  enough  that  any  one  was  an  interior  mis- 
sionary. At  Kuruman  he  was  sure  of  attention  to 
the  forwarding  of  his  commissions  ;  he  was  sure  of 
a  warm  welcome  and  of  good  cheer  for  weeks  to- 
gether ;  he  was  sure  of  sympathy  in  all  his  plans 
and  endeavours ;  and  he  might  be  equally  sure  that, 
whether  present  or  absent,  no  prayers  would  be 
more  earnest  or  sincere  than  those  offered  daily  at 
the  family  altar  at  Kuruman  for  the  success  of  his 
work.  Meanwhile,  Kuruman  itself  was  still  a  scene 
of  activity.  A  revision  of  the  New  Testament  was 
in  progress  ;  the  youngest  daughter,  now  the  only 
child  at  home,  was  working  hard  at  schools  and 
classes  ;  Mr.  Ashton,  after  a  short  absence,  was  once 
more  at  work  with  his  old  colleague. 

In  1862  a  great  blow  fell  upon  the  home  at  Kuru- 
man, which  seemed  to  add  visibly  to  the  weight  of 
years  already  becoming  heavy.  For  some  time 
Moffat's  elder  son,  Robert,  had  been  carrying  on 
trade  on  the  station.  He  was  a  man  of  great  energy, 
and  added  to  commercial  pursuits  a  love  of  philo- 
logical study.    He  had  commenced  a  laborious  work 

24 


354    DEATH   OF  MOFFAT S  SON  ROBERT, 

on  the  Sechwana  language.  He  had  been  in  poor 
health,  and,  regardless  of  this,  had  been  overtaxing 
his  strength.  His  wife  and  family  were  at  Durban, 
in  Natal,  and  he  had  arranged  to  start  early  in 
August  for  the  purpose  of  bringing  them  to  Kuru- 
man,  where  he  had  made  a  home  for  them.  When 
the  time  came  he  was  not  well ;  but,  in  his  anxiety 
to  keep  his  engagement,  he  started  in  opposition  to 
the  wishes  of  all.  It  was,  however,  thought  that 
the  journey  in  a  comfortable  waggon,  with  good  ser- 
vants, would  be  beneficial  rather  than  not.  It  was 
otherwise  ordered.  He  had  only  reached  a  point 
six  hours'  distant  when  he  became  worse,  and  before 
any  of  his  own  family  could  reach  him  he  had  passed 
away.  It  was  a  merciful  providence  that  Mrs.  Ross, 
the  wife  of  a  missionary,  a  woman  of  good  judgment 
and  strong  character,  was  travelling  in  the  same 
direction,  and  finding  him  in  a  dying  state,  remained 
with  him  till  the  end. 

His  loss  was  deplored  far  and  wide  in  the  Bech- 
wana  country.  He  was  a  man  of  impetuous  dis- 
position, but  generous  to  a  fault.  By  his  manly  and 
upright  dealing  he  had  gained  the  confidence  of  the 
natives,  and  had  endeared  himself  to  them  ;  and  he 
had  become  a  great  help  to  the  mission,  though  not 
officially  connected  with  it.  The  loss  fell  heavily 
upon  his  parents.  They  had  been  greatly  exercised 
in  mind  by  his  g6ing  into  the  native  trade  ;  but  he 
had  succeeded  in  showing  them  that  it  was  not 
necessary  for  him  to  lower  his  standard  of  upright- 
ness, and  they  had  come  to  lean  much  upon  him,  so 
that  he  had  promised  to  be  not  only  a  help  to  the 
mission,  but  a  stay  to  them  in  their  declining  years. 


DEATH   OF  MARY  LIVINGSTONE.        355 

A  great  multitude  came  to  show  their  regard  for 
the  departed,  both  for  his  own  sake  and  as  the  son 
of  their  missionary.  It  was  a  help  and  a  comfort  to 
the  household  plunged  into  mourning  that  there  was 
no  lack  of  gentle  and  willing  hands  to  perform  the 
last  melancholy  duties.  Moffat's  colleague,  William 
Ashton,  a  man  who  had  himself  borne  many  sorrows, 
with  the  hearty  aid  of  the  few  English  neighbours, 
took  everything  in  hand,  and  he  conducted  at  the 
grave  a  service  full  of  tender  sympathy. 

Not  many  weeks  after  this,  sad  news  came  from 
the  Zambezi.  Mary,  the  wife  of  Dr.  Livingstone, 
had  gone  to  her  rest — four  months  before  her 
brother.  The  news  was  scarcely  unexpected.  Her 
mother  had  made  up  her  mind  at  once,  when  she 
heard  that  her  Mary  had  left  for  that  fever-stricken 
region,  that  she  had  gone  "  a  sacrifice  ready  offered 
up  ;  "  and  though  the  end  came  sooner  than  even  she 
had  quite  looked  for  it,  yet  it  had  been  to  her  as  an 
object  of  contemplation,  only  a  matter  of  time.  So 
strong,  however,  was  the  missionary  feeling,  that 
half  the  sting  was  taken  away  by  the  joy  that  her 
daughter  had  been  permitted  to  meet  her  end  in  the 
front  rank  of  those  who  had  gone  to  strive  for  the 
welfare  of  the  heathen  children  of  Africa.  There 
was  much  of  this  Spartan  fortitude,  or  rather. 
perhaps,  of  the  martyr  spirit,  in  Mary  Moffat,  which 
strove  with  her  intense  and  womanly  love  for  her 
own  kindred.  This  latter  showed  itself  in  her  un- 
ceasing care  for  them  all,  and  in  her  efforts  to  reach 
them,  wherever  they  were,  if  only  by  letters.  In 
distant  New  Zealand,  or  in  the  United  States — it 
mattered  little  where — whether  nephew  or  niece, 
brother  or  grandchild,  each  was  remembered. 


35.6  DEATH   OF   WILLIAM  ROSS. 

A  year  after  their  own  bereavement  the  Mofifats 
were  called  to  sympathize  with  others.  News  came 
that  William  Ross,  the  missionary  at  Lekatlong, 
about  eighty  miles  distant  to  the  south-east,  was 
seriously  ill.  This  was  enough.  In  a  few  hours 
Moffat  was  on  his  way  ;  he  had  the  sad  satisfaction 
of  doing  all  that  could  be  done  to  alleviate  suffering, 
and  of  succouring  the  lonely  widow  and  the  weeping 
children. 

The  death  of  Ross  led  to  Ashton  being  transferred 
to  Lekatlong,  and  for  a  while  the  whole  weight  of 
duty  at  Kuruman  rested  on  Moffat's  shoulders. 
This  was  more  than  was  fit  or  desirable.  His  energies 
were  flagging,  and  his  health  failing.  Early  in  the 
year  1865  an  event  occurred  which  taxed  his  phy- 
sical frame,  and  deeply  wounded  his  spirit  at  the 
same  time.  For  some  months  a  young  man  living 
on  the  station,  who  had  hitherto  borne  a  promising 
character,  had  begun  to  show  signs  of  a  disordered 
mind.  His  vagaries  were  endured  by  his  neigh- 
bours as  long  as  they  were  merely  annoying,  but 
they  became  at  last  too  serious  to  be  quietly  tole- 
rated. This  was  a  contingency  for  which  no  pro- 
vision existed  in  a  community  like  that  at  Kuruman, 
where  for  years  crimes  of  violence  had  been  un- 
known, and  where  moral  influence  alone  had  been 
found  sufficient  to  maintain  order.  The  compara- 
tively feeble  patriarchal  control  exercised  by  certain 
headmen  was  not  equal  to  the  emergency.  An 
appeal  could  have  been  made  to  the  Batlaping 
chiefs,  but  it  was  thought  best  to  avoid  this  as 
long  as  possible.  It  was  necessary  for  the  mis- 
sionary to  give  his  advice  and  co-operation.      Under 


MOFFAT  ATTACKED   BY  A   LUNATIC.     357 

his  superintendence  measures  were  taken  to  impose 
a  certain  amount  of  restraint.  This  was  too  partial 
to  prevent  mischief,  and  had  the  effect  of  exciting  in 
the  kmatic  himself  a  violent  personal  animosity 
against  Moffat.  One  evening,  returning  home  from 
the  church  In  the  dark,  he  was  fallen  upon  by  the 
unhappy  man,  who,  armed  with  a  knob  kerrie,  In- 
flicted some  terrible  blows,  and  then  fled,  apparently 
frightened  at  his  own  violence.  But  for  the  won- 
derful tenacity  of  the  iron  frame  the  consequences 
must  have  been  serious  ;  as  it  was,  the  heart  was 
sorely  grieved,  and  It  was  many  months  before  the 
shadow  of  this  sorrow  was  removed.  The  event 
caused  a  profound  sensation  ;  the  culprit  was  arrested 
and  removed  to  another  part  of  the  country  until  it 
was  seen  that  his  mental  condition  gave  no  further 
ground  for  alarm. 

Afarjf  Moffat  to  one  of  her  Children. 

August  9,  1863. 

*'  I  am  sorry  that  your  father  is  not  here  to  add  his  share 
to  what  we  now  send.  Doubtless  Janie  will  have  told  you 
that  poor  brother  Ross's  sufferings  have  ended,  and  that  he 
has  entered  into  rest.  His  end  was  emphatically  *■  peace.' 
He  was  full  two  months  very  ill,  and  needed  much  atten- 
tion. It  is  cause  for  devout  thankfulness  to  me  that  your 
father  was  there,  for  besides  the  common  debt  which  we  all 
owe  to  each  other  in  such  circumstances,  I  felt  I  could 
never  repay  Mrs.  Ross  for  her  kind  attention  to  our  own 
dear  departed,  when  we  were  all  unconscious  of  what  was 
going  on. 

"  Mr.  Ross  has  been  a  hard-working,  plodding  man  in 
evangelistic  work.  Itinerating  seemed  to  be  his  forte,  and 
we  calculated  on  his  holding  on  for  a  long  time  to  come, 
being  in  nowise  feeble  in  health  ;  but  his  Master  had  other- 
wise ordered,  and  now  there  is  a  blank  in  this  region  to  be 


358  DEATHS   OF  RELATIONS. 

filled  up  (for  a  while  at  least)  by  the  brethren  here,  unless 
some  of  you  young  men  have  to  retreat  southv/ard  ;  this 
our  noblest  principles  forbid  us  to  hope  for,  but  the  will  of 
the  Lord  must  be  done.  What  we  see  going  on  in  other 
parts  of  the  world  precludes  despair  even  for  those  dark 
places  where  your  lot  is  cast.  Look  at  what  has  taken 
place  at  Abbeokuta,  in  West  Africa,  and  take  courage. 
You  will  see  the  post  has  arrived,  and  we  have  more  hope- 
ful news  of  Madagascar.  As  Mr.  Thomas  has  the  papers 
you  will  see  in  that  of  the  nth  of  July  a  letter  ;  but  we 
cannot  feel  sure  about  the  real  state  of  feeling  until  we  see 
something  from  Mr.  Ellis's  own  pen." 

Towards  the  end  of  1865  the  mission  was  rein- 
forced by  the  arrival  of  John  Brown  from  England, 
and  Moffat's  own  son,  having  come  out  from  the 
Matebele,  his  labours  were  in  a  measure  lightened. 
He  took  advantage  of  this  to  push  on  more  zealously 
the  work  of  Scripture  revision,  the  preparing  of 
additional  hymns,  and  the  carrying  of  smaller  works 
through  the  press.  The  now  narrow  circle  of  his 
Scottish  relations  was  still  more  contracted  by  the 
death  of  his  aunt,  Jane  Gardiner,  and  his  brother 
Richard.  The  latter  had  been  his  steadfast  corre- 
spondent from  the  early  years  of  his  missionary  life. 
His  letters  were  not  frequent,  but  they  were  regular, 
and  when  they  came  they  were  sometliing  to  read, 
containing  as  they  did  the  annals  of  the  home  at 
Inverkeithing  and  of  its  surroundings  ;  then  a  digest 
of  the  political  news  of  the  day,  and  an  array  of 
ecclesiastical  items ;  enough  matter  in  fact  closely 
written  into  an  enormous  sheet  to  have  filled  a  small 
newspaper.  By  such  means,  in  days  when  public 
journals  were  a  rarity,  an  interest  had  been  kept  up 
in  the  outer  world  which  had  never  grown  faint. 


THE   WAIFS  AND  STRAYS  OF  SOCIETY,    359 

For  many  years  the  Paris  Evangelical  Society 
had  been  represented  in  Bcchwanaland  by  a  station 
at  Motito,  about  thirty-six  miles  to  the  north-east  of 
Kuruman.  This  station  had  latterly  been  held  by 
Jean  Fredoux,  who  had  married  Moffat's  second 
daughter,  Fredoux  was  a  man  of  gentle  disposition, 
addicted  to  study,  possibly  the  last  man  among  the 
missionaries  in  Bechwanaland  whom  any  one  would 
have  expected  to  fall  a  victim  to  violence  in  a 
country  where  missionaries,  whatever  might  have 
been  their  hardships  and  trials,  had  been  almost 
entirely  exempt  from  such  forms  of  suffering.  Mis- 
sionaries had  hitherto,  even  from  the  earliest  times, 
found  their  persons  and  lives  safe  among  the  natives 
of  South  Africa,  who  have  heathenish  vices  enough, 
but  certainly  have  not  been  noted  for  treachery  or 
bloodthirstiness. 

Unfortunately  the  development  of  trade  had 
brought  into  the  country  a  good  many  characters 
of  a  different  stamp  from  the  respectable  store- 
keepers who  had  hitherto  been  found  aids  to  the 
mission.  These  waifs  of  civilization  had  drifted  into 
the  country,  had  obtained  waggons  and  a  few  goods 
on  credit  from  some  merchant,  and  used  to  wander 
from  one  native  village  to  another  ;  and,  whilst  carry- 
ing on  some  sort  of  a  trade,  they  debased  others  and 
were  themselves  debased,  coming  in  contact  with  a 
race  in  whom  the  vices  of  heathenism  were  still 
strong,  and  among  whom  Christianity  was  still  in  its 
infancy. 

Early  in  March,  1866,  Fredoux  started  on  a  tour 
to  the  westward  to  carry  on  evangelistic  work 
among  the  Barolong  villages  along  the  margin  of 


36o  DEATH  OF  JEAN  FREDOUX. 

the  Kalahari  Desert.  Whilst  at  Morokweng  one  of 
the  class  of  unfortunates  above  referred  to  arrived. 
The  news  had  preceded  him  that  he  had  been  guilty 
of  atrocious  conduct  at  Fredoux's  own  station.  The 
chief  at  Morokweng  and  his  people  took  the  matter 
up  warmly.  They  insisted  upon  the  trader  return- 
ing to  Kuruman  and  submitting  his  conduct  to 
investigation  there,  where  a  sufficient  number  of 
white  people  could  be  assembled  to  go  into  the  case. 
He  refused,  and  on  it  becoming  apparent  that  the 
natives  would  take  him  by  force,  he  entrenched  him- 
self in  his  waggon,  with  all  his  guns  loaded,  and 
dared  any  one  to  lay  hands  upon  him. 

Fredoux,  whose  camp  was  at  a  little  distance, 
seeing  that  matters  were  becoming  serious,  went 
over  to  try  and  bring  the  man  to  reason  by  persua- 
sion. He  drew  near,  and,  standing  by  the  side  of 
the  waggon,  within  earshot,  but  out  of  sight,  gently 
urged  the  trader  to  go  quietly  to  Kuruman,  assur- 
ing him  that  the  people  were  resolved  that  he 
should  go,  if  not  peaceably,  then  by  force.  To  this 
there  was  only  a  blasphemous  refusal.  One  who 
was  standing  in  a  position  to  command  a  view  of 
what  passed  inside  of  the  waggon,  and  who  survived 
the  catastrophe,  testified  that  at  this  juncture  he  saw 
the  man  strike  a  match,  and  in  a  moment  an  ex- 
plosion took  place.  There  were  two  hundred  and 
fifty  pounds  of  powder  in  the  waggon.  The  waggon 
itself  and  its  misguided  occupant  were  blown  to 
atoms  ;  the  mangled  form  of  Fredoux  was  found  not 
far  away  :  he  had  passed  to  his  rest  after  a  blame- 
less and  laborious  career.  Twelve  natives  also  lost 
their  lives,  and  about  thirty  more  were  injured. 


DEATH   OF  MRS.   BROWN,  361 

Directly  the  sad  news  reached  Kuruman  Moffat 
hastened  to  succour  his  widowed  daughter,  and  to 
consign  to  the  grave  at  Motito  the  remains  of  his 
late  son-in-law.  It  was  another  sore  blow,  and 
added  materially  to  the  cares  and  anxieties  of  the 
aged  missionary  and  his  wife  to  the  end  of  their 
days.  A  few  months  later  the  shadow  of  death 
again  darkened  the  doors  of  the  little  community  at 
Kuruman.  The  Browns  had  taken  up  their  abode 
and  work  there.  Mrs.  Brown  was  a  woman  of 
exceptional  accomplishments  and  great  energy  of 
character.  Her  removal  was  one  of  those  enigmas 
respecting  which  all  human  penetration  is  at  fault. 
She  was  on  the  very  threshold  of  what  seemed  to 
be  her  work  ;  she  was  entering  upon  it  full  of  earnest 
hope  ;  she  had  shown  a  special  aptness  for  learning 
the  language  :  but  Divine  wisdom  saw  what  was  best 
and  she  was  called  away.  Shortly  after  his  wife's 
death  Mr.  Brown  removed  to  Lekatlong,  and  was 
afterwards  appointed  to  take  up  his  position  at 
Taung,  the  headquarters  of  the  Batlaping  tribe, 
where  he  remained  for  some  years. 


CHAPTER  XXXIV. 

DEPARTURE  FOR  ENGLAND. 
1868,  1869. 

MOFFAT  was  thus  left  once  more  in  sole 
charge  of  the  Kuruman  until  early  in  1868, 
when  he  was  joined  by  his  son.  For  two 
years  more  he  held  on  his  way,  but  the  conviction 
began  to  force  itself  upon  him  that  he  was  really 
getting  old — a  conviction  not  easily  received.  He 
had  been  so  long  the  central  figure,  not  only  of  the 
mission  but  of  all  matters  in  Bechwanaland,  and  so 
accustomed  to  take  the  lead,  that  it  was  difficult  to 
imagine  anything  different.  As  long  as  he  remained 
at  Kuruman  it  was  not  possible  for  him  to  rest,  and  he 
was  often  drawn  on  to  exertion  which  told  upon  him 
afterwards.  He  suffered  during  the  winter  months 
from  a  short  and  constant  cough,  which  during  the 
nights  aggravated  his  natural  tendency  to  sleepless- 
ness. Still  he  could  not  be  inactive.  He  visited 
all  the  out-stations,  and  took  upon  himself  work 
multilarious  enough  to  have  taxed  the  energies  of  a 
younger  man. 

A  great  care  had  been  thrown  upon  him  by  the 


STRONG  HOME-TIES   TO   KURUMAN.     363 

death  of  Fredoux,  The  widow  and  seven  orphan 
children  were  practically  unprovided  for.  All  this 
while,  and  in  fact  for  years,  the  Directors  had  not 
ceased  to  urg-e  him  to  come  home.  In  one  sense  it 
was  not  a  question  of  going  home,  but  of  leaving 
it.  It  was  about  fifty  years  since  Robert  and  Mary 
Moffat  had  entered  lipon  their  work  in  Bechwana- 
land.  More  than  forty  of  these  years  had  been 
spent  in  the  house  where  most  of  their  children  had 
been  born.  The  shady  street  with  church  and 
schools,  the  surrounding  villages  all  full  of  hearts 
in  which  deference  and  love  reigned  superior  to 
every  other  consideration,  where  Ramary  and 
Mamary  were  sure  of  a  respectful  welcome  from  all, 
old  and  young,  and  maintained  an  almost  absolute 
rule,  though  wielding  no  other  sceptre  than  that 
of  gratitude  and  affection,  were  things  which  made 
it  hard  for  them  to  leave  Kuruman.  One  of  the 
pleasant  recollections  of  those  last  years  at  Kuru- 
man was  the  presence  on  the  station  of  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Levy.  Mr.  L.  was  continuing  the  business 
which  had  been  founded  by  Moffat's  son  Robert. 
The  Levys  were  more  than  usually  considerate 
neighbours.  Their  tender  reverence  for  the  aped 
missionary  and  his  wife  was  shown  in  a  thousand 
acts  of  unobtrusive  and  refined  attention.  Even 
when  at  last  the  affectionate  entreaties  of  the 
Directors  had  been  responded  to,  and  they  had 
come  to  a  final  determination,  it  was  with  slow  and 
faint  steps  that  preparations  were  made.  It  was  as 
though  they  were  v/aiting  for  something  to  hinder 
them. 

On  Sunday,  the  twentieth  of  March,  1S70,  Robert 


364  FAREWELL   SCENE. 

Moffat  preached  for  the  last  time  in  the  Kuruman 
church.  In  all  that  great  congregation  there  were 
few  of  his  own  contemporaries.  The  older  people 
were  for  the  most  part  children  at  the  time  when 
they  had  first  seen  the  missionaries.  With  a  pathetic 
grace  peculiarly  his  own,  he  pleaded  with  those 
who  still  remained  unbelieving  amid  the  gospel 
privileges  they  had  now  enjoyed  so  many  years. 
With  a  fatherly  benediction  he  commended  to  the 
grace  of  God  those  who  had  been  to  him  a  joy  and 
crown.  It  was  an  impressive  close  to  an  Impressive 
career.  Many  years  must  pass  before  that  service 
can  be  forgotten  in  Bechvvanaland. 

On  Friday  following  the  departure  took  place. 
For  weeks  before  messages  of  farewell  had  been 
coming  from  the  more  distant  towns  and  villages, 
from  those  who  were  unable  to  come  themselves. 
But  the  final  scene  was  such  as  could  scarcely  be 
described  in  words.  As  the  old  missionary  and  his 
wife  came  out  of  their  door  and  walked  to  their 
waggon  they  were  beset  by  the  crowds,  each  long- 
ing for  one  more  touch  of  the  hand  and  one  more 
word ;  and  as  the  waggon  drove  away  it  was 
followed  by  all  who  could  walk,  and  a  long  and 
pitiful  wail  rose,  enough  to  melt  the  hardest  heart. 
It  was  characteristic  of  Mary  Moffat  that  amid 
these  sad  scenes  she  was  full  of  thought  for  others  ; 
and  that  her  last  few  minutes  with  her  son,  who  was 
remaining  in  charge  of  the  station,  were  spent  In 
interceding  with  him  on  behalf  of  the  unhappy  man 
who  had  some  time  before,  under  the  influence  of  a 
disordered  mind,  made  an  attack  upon  her  husband, 
and  had  remained  ever  since  under  a  sort  of  ban. 


THEY  ARE  WELCOMED  ON  THE  ROAD.     365 

At  Backhouse,  where  they  crossed  the  Vaal  River, 
the  Moffats  spent  a  Sunday  with  Mr.  and  Mrs, 
Hughes.  Mr.  Hughes  was  a  somewhat  younger 
man,  and  had  joined  the  Bechwana  Mission  a  few 
years  later  than  the  Moffats  ;  but  his  course  was  all 
but  run,  and  not  long  after  this  he  entered  into  rest. 
The  journey  through  the  Colony  was  marked  by  no 
special  incident,  beyond  the  universal  respect  and 
kindness  everywhere  manifested.  In  Port  Eliza- 
beth Moffat  had  the  pleasure  of  renewing  his  inter- 
course with  his  old  colleaofue  Roofer  Edwards,  with 
whom  he  had  worked  so  long  at  Kuruman  before 
his  first  visit  home. 

Both  in  Port  Elizabeth  and  in  Cape  Town  he 
received  a  welcome  which  was  a  surprise  to  him. 
Most  of  his  older  friends  who  had  stood  by  him 
when  missions  had  their  darker  days  in  South 
Africa,  were  gone  ;  but  a  few  still  remained,  and 
there  had  risen  up  a  new  generation  to  whom  he 
was  the  object  of  a  peculiar  interest.  On  the  tenth 
of  June,  1870,  he  embarked  for  England,  and  looked 
for  the  last  time  on  the  mountains  of  Africa.  It 
was  a  few  months  more  than  fifty-four  years  since 
he  had  landed  there. 

It  falls  to  the  lot  of  few  men  to  have  seen  such 
a  change  in  a  country,  and  to  have  taken  so  large 
a  personal  share  in  having  brought  about  that 
change.  When  he  landed  in  January,  181 7,  the 
northern  frontier  of  the  Colony  was  only  a  short 
distance  from  Beaufort  West,  which  was  itself  little 
more  than  a  central  point  in  the  enormous  district, 
at  which  lived  a  clergymen  and  a  Government  officer. 
The  only  village  worthy  of  the  name  outside  of  the 


365    EARLY  CONDITION  OF  SOUTH  AFRICA, 

Cape  district  was  Graaff  Reinett.  There  was  a 
small  military  post  on  the  heights  overhanging 
the  sandy  shores  of  Algoa  Bay.  From  the  northern 
frontier  to  the  Oransfe  River  stretched  an  im- 
mense  and  desolate  region,  inhabited,  or  rather 
roved  over,  by  hordes  of  wandering  Bushmen. 
North  of  the  Orange  River  it  was  known  that  there 
were  tribes  of  Bechwanas,  and  a  party  of  travellers 
had  actually  penetrated  that  country  to  some  little 
distance,  and  missions  had  been  established  at 
Lattakoo  and  at  Griqua  Town.  Of  Bechwanaland 
proper  scarcely  anything  was  known.  The  tribes, 
living  apart,  carried  on  but  little  intercourse  with 
each  other ;  when  peace  prevailed  small  trading 
parties  would  venture  to  visit  their  neighbours,  but 
tribal  disputes  and  cattle-lifting  frays  would  interrupt 
all  intercourse,  and  for  months  or  even  for  years 
tribes  would  be  as  isolated  as  though  each  lived  on 
islands  apart. 

The  country  now  known  as  the  Transvaal,  the 
Orange  Free  State,  and  Basutoland  were  utterly 
unvisited  by  European  travellers,  not  to  mention 
Natal  and  the  whole  region  along  the  coast-line. 
The  South  African  Missionary  Society  had  com- 
menced work  within  the  Colony,  and  at  one  or  two 
points  in  Namaqualand.  The  Moravians  were  at 
Genadendal.  Missions  were  truly  in  their  infancy, 
and  were  regarded  with  scant  toleration  by  the 
Government  as  doubtful  and  dangerous  experiments. 

Alongside  of  the  colonizing  movement  which  has 
absorbed  the  whole  country  south  of  the  Orange 
River,  has  crossed  the  upper  part  of  that  stream  and 
the  Vaal  beyond,  and  is  now  filling  up   the  country 


EFFECTING  A   CHANGE.  367 

between  the  latter  and  the  Lempopo,  Moffat  Hved  to 
see  Kafirland,  Basutoland,  and  Natal  occupied  by  an 
army,  not  merely  of  missionaries,  but  of  missionary 
societies  ;  while  his  own  Bechwanaland  is  through 
its  length  and  breadth  feeling  the  influences  of  his 
work  and  that  of  his  companions,  a  work  which  has 
extended  its  operations  to  the  very  banks  of  the 
Zambezi  River,  upon  the  upper  waters  of  which 
Arnot,  Coillard,  and  Jeanmairet  are  holding  the 
outmost  post  of  advance.  The  following  extracts 
from  a  paper  in  the  Leisure  Hour  for  Nov.,  1883, 
are  worthy  of  note  in  this  connection  : 

"  The  Bechwanas,  as  Dr.  Moffat  was  careful  to  point  out 
with  his  usual  sense  of  justice,  were  by  no  means  among 
the  lowest  of  uncivilized  races.  To  some  extent  they  had 
the  use  of  metals.  But  the  community  was  largely  nomadic, 
and  regular  industry  was  despised.  In  the  work  of  agri- 
culture and  building  which  he  so  assiduously  followed  at 
the  Kuruman  mission  -  station,  he  describes  himself  as 
employed  at  manual  and  menial  labour  the  whole  day, 
'  working  under  a  burning  sun,  standing  in  the  sawpit, 
labouring  at  the  anvil,  or  treading  clay.'  It  is  only  inci- 
dentally that  such  glimpses  are  offered  of  the  course  which 
Moffat  pursued  for  many  thankless  and  weary  years,  the 
butt  of  the  people  for  whom  he  was  devoting  his  life. 
Enough,  however,  transpires  to  show  the  almost  incredible 
resource  and  cheeriness  of  spirit  which  he  brought  to  bear 
upon  his  work.  Mere  temporal  reverses  and  difficulties, 
sometimes  of  a  grave  kind,  he  would  meet  not  only  with 
equanimity,  but  often  with  bantering  humour.  In  one 
year  he  was  slaving  for  months  to  carry  a  water-ditch, 
several  miles  in  length,  from  the  Kuruman  River  into  the 
kitchen  garden  of  the  humble  mission-house.  The  site  of  the 
station  was  a  light,  sandy  soil,  where  no  vegetables  would 
grow  without  irrigation,  Artifical  irrigation  was  to  the 
natives  entirely  unknown,  and  fountains  and  streams  had 


368  HE   TEACHES   AGRICULTURE. 

been  suffered  to  run  to  waste,  even  where  crops  of  native 
grain,  which  support  amazing  drought,  are  seldom  very 
abundant,  owing  to  the  infrequency  of  the  rainfall.  The 
natives  saw  the  effect  of  irrigation  upon  the  mission-house 
garden,  and  did  not  scruple  to  divert  the  stream  in  order 
that  it  might  flood  theirs.  The  result  was  that  Mr. 
Hamilton  and  Mr.  Moffat  were  daily  compelled  to  go 
alternately  three  miles  with  a  spade  about  three  o'clock  in 
the  afternoon,  the  hottest  time  of  the  day,  and  restore  the 
water-way,'  so  that  they  might  have  a  little  moisture  to 
refresh  their  burnt-up  vegetables  during  the  night.  Thus, 
after  working  hard  all  day,  they  were  obliged  to  irrigate 
during  the  precious  hours  which  ought  to  have  been  de- 
voted to  sleep.  Even  then  the  natives  stole  the  crops 
which  had  been  raised  with  such  difficulty  ;  and  after  a 
year's  toil  the  missionary  and  his  household  scarcely  reaped 
anything  to  reward  them  for  their  labour. 

"  At  a  later  period,  when  the  people  had  become  truly 
evangelized,  irrigation,  and  even  the  preparation  of  the 
soil,  were  intelligently  adopted  in  the  Kuruman  district. 
Writing  in  the  year  1864,  Dr.  Moffat  records  the  progress 
made.  He  tells  us  :  '  The  views  of  the  natives  have  under- 
gone a  material  change  upon  many  points  of  importance, 
and  among  others  as  to  the  cultivation  of  their  fields  and 
gardens.  When  they  first  saw  us  employ  people  to  convey 
the  contents  of  our  cattle-folds  to  our  gardens,  the  act  was 
in  their  judgment  too  ludicrous  to  admit  of  reflection  ; 
they  laughed  boisterously,  supposing  it  to  be  one  of  our 
foolish  customs,  in  order  to  "charm  the  ground,"  as  they 
were  wont  to  do  to  their  own  gardens  (their  own  custom 
was  to  chew  a  certain  root  and  spit  on  the  leaves,  to  make 
the  plant  more  fruitful).  Thus,  from  time  immemorial, 
millions  of  heaps  of  manure  were  turned  to  no  useful 
account.  It  was  very  long  before  they  were  convinced, 
but  at  last  they  discovered  that  manured  gardens  not  only 
did  not  "  get  old,"  but  could  be  made  very  young  again.  To- 
day, therefore,  the  veriest  heathen  among  them  may  be  seen 
carrying  manure  on  their  backs,  or  on  the  backs  of  their 
oxen,  to  the  garden  ground.    Lately  one  of  them  remarked 


MOFFAT S   SCIENTIFIC   OBSERVATIONS.     369 

to  me  on  this  subject :  "  I  cannot  persuade  myself  that  we 
were  once  so  stupid  as  not  to  believe  what  we  saw  with 
our  own  eyes." '  Writing  at  a  later  period  with  regard  to 
ploughs,  Dr.  Moffat  says :  '  When  I  went  out  there  was 
but  one  plough  in  the  country,  now  there  are  thousands. 
The  same  may  be  said  of  waggons.  It  was  formerly 
women's  work  to  plough,  but  now  the  men  have  been  in- 
duced to  take  that  work  upon  themselves.' 

"  Instances  of  Dr.  Moffat's  attainments  as  a  true  '  captain 
of  industry  '  would  fill  a  volume.  The  difficulty  of  raising 
a  high  roof  on  a  newly- built  chapel  in  a  country  where  there 
were  neither  blocks  nor  tackle  for  the  purpose  is  perhaps 
only  known  to  those  who  have  tried  it.  At  New  Lattakoo 
Dr.  Moffat  and  his  helpers  found  it  an  herculean  and 
dangerous  task.  Few  would  trust  themselves  on  naked 
walls  whilst  engaged  in  the  work.  The  feat,  however, 
was  successfully  achieved.  Whilst  it  was  proceeding,  the 
natives  often  remarked  that  the  missionaries  must  have 
been  brought  up  in  the  baboon  country,  and  so  have  be- 
come accustomed  to  precipices  and  walls. 

"  The  natural  resources  of  the  country  and  their  capacity 
for  development  did  not  escape  Dr.  Moffat's  observation 
even  during  journeys  of  the  most  hazardous  kind.  Even 
when  famine  or  death  by  wild  beasts  stared  him  in  the  face 
his  trained  eye  was  involuntarily  noting  the  plants,  the 
minerals,  and  the  geological  structure  of  the  tract  through 
which  he  was  passing.  He  remarks  the  meteorology  as 
affected  locally  by  mountains  and  other  causes,  a  problem 
subsequently  worked  out  in  detail  by  his  son-in-law,  Dr. 
Livingstone  ;  and  he  is  struck  with  the  extent  to  which 
the  climate  must  have  been  affected  by  the  natives'  reckless 
habit  of  destroying  the  forests.  It  must  be  remembered 
that  fifty  years  ago  the  climatic  effect  of  disforesting  a 
country  was  by  no  means  the  familiar  topic  it  has  since 
become,  and  Dr.  Moffat's  observations  are  among  the  very 
earliest  made  by  modern  travellers.  He  says  the  whole 
country  north  of  the  Orange  River  and  east  of  the  Kalahari 
Desert  presented  to  the  eye  of  a  European  something  like 
an  old  neglected  garden  or  field,  and  the  explanation  was 

25 


370     THE   GEOLOGY  OF  BECHWAN ALAND, 

not  far  to  seek.  'The  Bechwanas,'  he  says,  '  and  especially 
the  Batlapis  and  the  neighbouring  tribes,  are  a  nation  of 
levellers,  not  reducing  hills  to  comparative  plains  for  the 
sake  of  building  their  towns,  but  cutting  down  every  species 
of  timber  without  regard  to  scenery  or  economy.'  Thus,  of 
whole  forests,  where  the  giraffe  and  elephant  were  wont 
to  seek  their  daily  food,  nothing  remains.  To  this  system 
of  extermination  may  be  attributed  the  long  succession  of 
dry  seasons.  '  Missionary  Scenes  and  Labours  '  shoAvs  how 
persistently  the  author  laboured  to  teach  the  natives  the 
necessity  of  preserving  the  forest. 

"  Dr.  Moffat's  early  practice  in  his  native  country  as  a 
gardener  and  botanist  proved  of  admirable  service  in  South 
Africa,  where  he  took  every  occasion  of  applying  it  and 
enlarging  his  knowledge.  Many  of  his  interesting  geo- 
logical observations  were  doubtless  due  to  his  early  habit 
of  noting  soils  and  their  constituents.  The  traveller  in 
South  Africa  to-day  finds  it  interesting  and  instructive  to 
compare  Dr.  Moffat's  earlier  notes  on  the  rocks  of  the 
country  with  those  of  later  and  more  official  investigators. 
Travelling  in  his  route  they  are  struck  in  Namaqualand  as 
he  was  with  the  old  volcanic  dykes,  which  have  forced 
themselves  up  to  the  surface  at  a  later  period  than  the 
schistose  rocks  which  figure  so  frequently  in  his  pages.  At 
Griqua  Town,  beyond  the  plateau  (now  a  diamond-field),  the 
visitor  with  an  eye  for  rock  scenery  will  recognize  the  long 
parallel  range  of  jaspideous  rocks  cropping  out,  and  pre- 
senting the  wonderful  group  of  yellow,  brown,  chocolate, 
and  red  jaspers,  with  magnetic  and  other  ironstone,  and 
beautiful  seams  of  the  blue  and  yellow  mineral  known  as 
•crocidolite.  The  blue  asbestos  at  Gamaperi  was  duly  noted 
by  Dr.  Moffat,  and  it  was  fortunate  for  him  as  a  traveller  on 
■several  occasions  when  taking  the  compass  bearings  that 
he  knew  the  magnetic  character  of  the  schistose  rocks,  on 
the  top  of  which,  as  he  found,  the  compass  moves  at 
random..  He  was  constantly  noticing  the  way  in  which 
the  rocks  decompose  at  the  surface,  and  become  fitted 
more  or  less  to  support  vegetation ;  and  long  after  he  had 
left  Africa  he  took  a  keen  interest  in  the  progress  of  the 


LINGUISTIC  ACHIEVEMENTS.  371 

geological    survey  by    the    accredited   officers    from    Cape 
Colony. 

"  It  is  easy  to  see  how  such  observations,  added  to  agri- 
cultural knowledge  acquired  in  his  earlier  years,  increased 
Dr.  Moffat's  means  of  usefulness  to  his  African  protege's. 
He  introduced  into  suitable  soils,  and  on  levels  available 
for  irrigation,  both  grain  and  fruit,  among  the  former  being 
wheat,  barley,  peas,  potatoes,  carrots,  and  onions.  The 
improvement  in  the  implements  was  quite  as  marked. 
Instead  of  the  primitive  pick  used  by  the  women,  the 
plough  was  introduced  and  driven  by  the  men.  Harrows, 
spades,  and  mattocks  followed.  *  The  man  who  before 
would  have  disdained  to  be  seen  in  such  occupations  with 
the  old  tools,  was  now  thankful  to  have  it  in  his  power  to 
buy  a  spade.  In  their  appreciation  of  irrigation  several  of 
the  natives  set  to  work  one  day  in  good  earnest,  and  in 
their  enthusiasm  cut  courses  leading  directly  up  hill,  hoping 
the  water  would  one  day  follow.' 

"  Happily  there  came  a  time  when  affairs  at  the  Kuru- 
man  mission-station  improved,  and  the  strain  of  labouring 
year  after  year  to  make  the  place  yield  sufficient  supplies 
of  food  for  himself  and  his  family  could  be  relaxed.  He 
was  at  length  able  to  proceed  to  his  great  work  of  acquiring 
the  Bechwana  language.  To  achieve  this  object  Dr.  Moffat 
spared  himself  none  of  the  drudgery  and  self-sacrifice  it 
involved.  It  required  among  other  measures  the  temporary 
abandonment  of  his  own  home  for  some  three  months, 
during  Avhich  h'e  tells  us  he  lived  a  semi-savage  life  among 
heathen  dance  and  song  and  immeasurable  heaps  of  dirt 
and  filth.  In  short,  this  is  doubtless  one  of  the  experiences 
which  made  him  remark  to  friends  on  his  return  to  England 
that  a  missionary  to  people  in  the  condition  of  the  Bechwanas 
needed  a  strong  stomach  in  addition  to  a  warm  heart.  He, 
however,  succeeded  in  his  object,  and  was  the  first  to  reduce 
the  language  of  the  Bechwanas  to  a  written  form.  Tlic 
task  of  reducing  a  vernacular  to  its  elements,  and  then  pre- 
senting it  in  a  synthetic  and  grammatical  form,  was  not 
one  for  which  Dr.  Moffat  had  been  equipped  when  he  left 
England,  but  he  accomplished  it,  even  under  the  greatest 


372      CHRISTIANITY  AND   CIVILIZATION. 

disadvantages.  No  wonder  that  after  the  further  task  of 
translating  the  Bible  into  the  Sechwana  language  he  com- 
plained that  he  felt  as  if  he  had  shattered  his  brain.  In 
the  interval  he  went  to  Cape  Town  and  learned  the  art  of 
printing.  Returning  to  the  mission-station  with  type  and 
a  printing-press,  he  produced  catechism  and  spelling-books 
for  the  schools.  He  gratefully  acknowledges  the  help  he 
received  from  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society  during 
this  period. 

"  Much  might  be  added  in  illustration  of  Dr.  Moffat's 
extreme  versatility  in  acquiring  every  industry  or  art 
which  the  exigencies  of  the  place  might  demand  of  him. 
His  treatment  of  the  bodily  ailments  of  the  natives  who 
came  to  him  was  almost  prophetic  of  the  medical  mission- 
aries, of  whom  so  much  has  happily  been  heard  in  later 
days.  Enough,  perhaps,  has  been  said  to  indicate  the 
manifold  resource  and  adaptiveness  which  helped  to  estab- 
lish the  memorable  mission  to  Bechwanaland. 

"  The  question  of  the  bearing  of  civilization  in  such  cir- 
cumstances upon  the  work  of  evangelization  is  a  weighty 
one.  and  the  testimony  of  such  a  veteran  missionary  as  Dr. 
Moffat  would  not  fail  to  be  of  the  greatest  value.  It  is  one, 
also,  on  which  he  has  spoken  with  no  uncertain  sound,  for 
the  facts  were  pressed  upon  him  at  an  early  period  of  his 
work  among  the  Bechwanas.  After  twenty-six  years  of 
missionary  work  he  writes:  'Much  has  been  said  about 
civilizing  savages  before  attempting  to  evangelize  them. 
This  is  a  theory  which  has  obtained  an  extensive  prevalence 
among  the  wise  men  of  this  world,  but  we  have  never  yet 
seen  a  practical  demonstration  of  its  truth.  We  ourselves 
are  convinced  that  evangelization  must  precede  civilization. 
It  is  very  easy  in  a  country  of  high  refinement  to  speculate 
on  what  might  be  done  among  rude  and  savage  men,  but 
the  Christian  missionary,  the  only  experimentalist,  has 
invariably  found  that  to  make  the  fruit  good  the  tree  must 
first  be  made  good.  Nothing  less  than  the  power  of 
Divine  grace  can  reform  the  hearts  of  savages,  after  which 
the  mind  is  susceptible  of  those  instructions  which  teach 
them  to  adore  the  gospel  they  profess.' 


CHRISTIANITY  MUST  TAKE  THE   LEAD.    ^7^ 

"  Dr.  Moffat  here  spoke  from  practical  and  dearly-bought 
experience,  and  his  narrative,  to  which  we  have  so  often 
referred,  supplies  an   ample  explanation  of  the  verdict  so 
explicitly  given.     It  is  true  that  he  was  for  many  years 
occupied  in  maintaining  those  civil  and  social  relationships 
with  the  Bechwanas  that  were  the  base  of  the  spiritual 
campaign  which  was  the  sole  object  of  his  presence,  and 
during  this  period  he  sought  to  exemplify  in  all  outward 
things   the   blessing   of  a   Christianized    civilization.     '  It 
would  appear  a  strange  anomaly,'  he  said,  '  to  see  a  Chris- 
tian professor  lying  at  full  length  on  the  ground  covered 
with  filth  and  dirt,  and  in  a  state  of  comparative  nudity, 
talking   about  Christian    diligence,  circumspection,   purifi- 
cation, and  white  robes.'     Moffat  accordingly  did  his  best 
for  civilization   as  a  matter  of  course,  and  always  made 
light  of  it  so  far  as  personal  toil  was  concerned.     It  is, 
moreover,  a  significant  commentary  on  his  view  of  civili- 
zation that  none  of  its  blessings  were  really  appropriated 
by  the  natives  until  after  their  evangelization.     Then  all 
the  past  work  which  had  cost  him  so  much  became,  as  it 
were,  fertilized  at  once.     Their  habitations,  their  dress,  and 
all  the  external  hindrances  of  better  habits  of  life,  were 
reformed,  the  outward  means  having  been  brought  within 
their   reach   through   years   of    the    missionary's    devoted 
labours.     Dr.  Moffat's  views  of  the  first  principles  to  be 
held  by  all  missionaries  to  uncivilized  peoples,  as  given  in 
the  sixteenth  chapter  of  his  well-known  work,  have  to-day 
lost  none  of  their  high  and  almost  unique  value." 


CHAPTER  XXXV. 

DEATH  OF  MARY  MOFFAT. 
1870-1872. 

FROM  this  point  onwards  the  Editor  of  the 
mennoir  is  largely  indebted  to  his  youngest 
sister,  who  accompanied  her  parents  to 
England,  and  remained  with  them  through  all  the 
later  years,  and  the  rest  of  the  story  will  be  told  for 
the  most  part  in  her  words. 

On  the  way  down  to  the  coast  we  were  enter- 
tained at  Graaff  Reinett  by  Mrs.  Murray,  sen., 
and  by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Charles  Murray.  The 
journey  was  long  and  tedious,  owing  to  the  wetness 
of  the  season.  The  Sunday's  River  was  flooded, 
and  we  had  to  wait  five  days  on  its  banks,  during 
which  time  Mr.  Kitchingman  and  his  daughter 
overtook  and  encamped  with  us  until  we  were  able 
to  cross.  By  Sunday  (we  crossed  on  the  Monday) 
fifteen  waggons  had  congregated,  principally  Dutch 
f  irmers  carrying  their  wool  to  the  coast.  Our  father 
held  a  Sechwana  service  for  the  sake  of  our  servants, 
and  we  were  somewhat  amused  to  find  that  during 
the    singing  of  the   hymns    the   farmers   had  con- 


^^-2f-2-t'-t^     /^^:^^,-<i^^^l<r>T_iS2_-.<^ 


iy/!UL^i^ 


MEETINGS  IN  PORT  ELIZABETH.        375 

gregated  behind  the  tent  hstening-,  quite  charmed 
with  singing-  such  as  they  were  unaccustomed  to 
hear.  We  happened  to  have  two  or  three  of  our 
best  singers  with  us.  Mr.  Kitchingman  also  con- 
ducted a  service  in  Dutch  for  the  farmers.  This 
Mr.  Kitchingman  was  a  son  of  Moffat's  old  col- 
league, and  was  also  a  missionary.  He,  too,  has 
now  p.issed  to  his  rest.  We  reached  Bethelsdorp 
in  time  for  our  father  to  proceed  to  Port  Elizabeth. 
and  to  take  a  part  in  the  meetings  of  the  Evangelical 
Union,  especially  the  united  communion  service, 
in  which  brethren  of  every  nationality  took  a  part. 
It  was  an  appropriate  farewell  to  his  work  in  South 
Africa.  We  remained  at  Bethelsdorp  with  Mrs. 
Merrington  several  days,  and  then  went  on  to  the 
Bay. 

Mr.  Macintosh  came  out  with  a  cart  and  horses 
to  take  our  mother  on  ahead  of  the  wasfofons.  "No." 
she  said,  "  I  will  stick  to  my  waggon  as  long  as  I 
can,"  preferring  not  to  quit  it  till  she  reached  Port 
Elizabeth.  We  stayed  ten  days  there,  during  which 
Mr.  Edwards  was  indefatigable  in  his  kindness,  and 
so  was  Mr.  Macintosh.  We  sailed  in  the  Roman 
for  Cape  Town.  Our  six  Bechwana  servants  came 
on  board  with  us  (one  excepted,  who  was  afraid  to 
venture  on  the  sea),  and  when  they  rowed  off  again 
in  a  small  boat  for  the  shore  we  felt  the  cable  was 
cut,  and  that  we  had  really  left  BechwanalanJ.  A 
sore  moment !  We  had  a  very  stormy  passage  to 
Cape  Town,  taking  four  days  instead  of  two.  On 
arriving  we  found  that  a  public  farewell  breakfast 
had  been  arranged,  and  this  took  place  next 
morning.     We  remained  a  fortnight  in  Cape  Town, 


376  FIRST  DAYS  IN  ENGLAND, 

bidding  farewell  to  our  many  old  friends,  and  then 
sailed  in  the  Norseman  for  England.  Both  parents 
bore  the  voyage  extremely  well — indeed,  as  regards 
sea-sickness,  better  than  any  of  the  passengers.  We 
were  six  weeks  on  the  voyage,  owing  to  an  accident 
to  the  engines,  which  kept  us  under  sail  for  a  week 
while  repairs  were  being  made. 

We  arrived  at  Plymouth  on  Sunday  evening,  the 
twenty-fourth  of  July.  Mr.  John  Snow  was  there 
to  meet  us,  and  went  on  with  us  to  Southampton, 
where  we  landed  next  day,  exactly  four  months 
after  leaving  Kuruman.  Here  we  found  Helen — 
who  now  saw  her  parents  after  a  separation  of 
twenty-seven  years.  It  was  a  memorable  meeting. 
Mr.  J.  Kemp  Welch  was  also  at  Southampton  to 
represent  the  Directors  of  the  London  Missionary 
Society. 

We  took  up  our  abode  in  Canonbury  for  a  few 
weeks.  A  public  breakfast  of  welcome  was  given 
at  Cannon  Street  Hotel.  Our  father  was  much 
better  in  health  after  the  journey  and  voyage,  but 
still  far  from  strong.  It  was  the  first  communion 
Sabbath  after  our  arrival  in  England,  that  at  Mr. 
Binney's  wish — most  heartily  reciprocated  by  our 
parents — we  went  to  the  Weigh  House  and  partook 
of  the  Lord's  Supper  there.  Of  course  we  went 
very  soon  to  Knockholt,  later  to  Brighton,  and  then 
our  father  was  much  pressed  by  Sir  Roderick 
Murchison  to  go  to  the  meeting  of  tlie  British 
Association  at  Liverpool.  He  arranged  to  do  so 
on  his  way  to  Scotland,  calling  also  at  Manchester 
to  see  our  oldest  friends  the  Sheldons,  and  Mrs. 
Woodward.     At  Liverpool  he  was  the  guest  of  Mr. 


STAY  AT  BRIXTON,  ^77 

and  Mrs.  Crossfield.  Thence  he  went  to  Scotland, 
calHng  on  the  way  at  Newcastle  to  see  the  Bruces. 
In  Edinburgh  he  found  still  many  old  friends,  and 
some  relations  ;  and  was  entertained  by  Mr.  Stone, 
Miss  Peek,  and  the  Cullens.  Thence  he  went  to 
Glasgow  to  visit  his  grandchildren  the  Livingstones. 
During  his  absence  in  Scotland  our  mother  was  at 
Buckhurst  Hill,  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Alexander 
Fraser,  who  had  kindly  placed  it  at  our  disposal 
during  the  temporary  absence  of  his  family. 

On  our  father's  return  from  the  north  we  went  in 
October  to  Brixton,  where  we  spent  the  winter  at 
the  house  of  Mr.  Henry  Vavasseur,  he  letting  us 
make  it  our  home  for  six  months,  until  we  should 
settle  upon  a  permanent  residence.  This  was  a 
particularly  acceptable  arrangement  to  our  mother, 
who  shrank  from  entering  at  once  upon  house- 
keeping in  England,  little  thinking  that  this  was  to 
be  the  last  halting-place  in  her  long  earthly  pilgrim- 
age. Before  Christmas  both  parents  paid  visits  to 
old  friends,  to  Miss  Eisdell  at  Epsom,  to  Mr. 
Davison  at  Canonbury,  Miss  Fletcher  at  Peckham, 
and  Mr.  and  Mrs.  James  Spicer  at  Woodford,  all 
friends  who  had  been  faithful  to  their  children  or 
grandchildren  in  England  while  they  were  still  in 
Africa.  During  the  few  months  she  was  at  Brixton 
our  mother  found  great  pleasure  in  the  ministry  and 
friendship  of  the  Rev.  D.  Herschell.  On  the 
twenty-first  of  December  our  father  received  a 
birthday  gift  of  one  thousand  pounds.  The  initia- 
tive had  been  taken  by  Miss  Peek,  whose  name  is 
associated  with  so  many  good  works,  and  her 
action  had  been  heartily  responded  to  ;  and  it  was 


378  MARY  MOFFAT S  ILLNESS, 

one  of  the  last  events  crowning  many  acts  of  kind- 
ness received  which  so  brightened  the  close  of  our 
mother's  life.  Christmas  was  spent  at  Knockholt, 
with  the  family  circle  there.  On  the  return  to 
Brixton  our  mother  took  cold  ;  and  after  a  few  days* 
illness  passed  away.  On  the  Monday  morning  she 
had  seemed  by  no  means  worse,  very  bent  on 
getting  up  and  coming  downstairs,  and  with  some 
difficulty  we  kept  her  in  bed  till  afternoon  ;  but  she 
talked  very  ramblingly  all  the  morning,  which  made 
me  uneasy.  I  wrote  a  joint  letter  to  John  and 
Bessie,  and  she  knew  all  about  it  and  sent  messages. 
Poor  mamma  !  how  active  her  mind  was  to  the  very 
last.  She  talked  about  everybody.  She  imagined 
she  was  talking  to  John.  She  said,  "  Where  is  he 
gone  ?  I  was  speaking  to  John."  The  doctor  pro- 
nounced her  no  worse,  and  said  that  on  the  morrow 
she  might  get  up  earlier  ;  as  she  was  so  bent  upon  it, 
it  would  make  her  feel  as  if  she  were  recovering. 
She  got  up  that  afternoon  and  spent  about  three 
hours,  as  happy  and  quiet  a  time  as  she  had  had  all 
through.  Then  about  half-past  seven  she  wearied, 
and  went  to  bed  ;  but  her  breathing  became  much 
oppressed,  and  nothing  would  relieve  it.  It  appeared 
to  be  becoming  easier,  and  we  hoped  she  would 
get  some  sleep — which  she  was  longing  for,  having 
had  none  all  day  and  but  litde  the  night  before. 
Then  her  cough,  which  had  been  very  troublesome, 
became  so  helpless  that  I  felt  alarmed,  and  we 
watched  her  anxiously.  Oh!  so  sudden  it  seemed  at 
last  that  the  cough  quite  ceased.  She  drew  a  iew 
long,  deep  breaths,  and  was  gone  !  Not  one  word 
of  farewell !  for   never  had    I    known  her   so    little 


SHE   FINISHES  HER   COURSE.  379 

alarmed  at  indisposition.  Never  even  in  her  clearest 
moments  did  she  utter  a  word  to  us  to  intimate 
that  she  thought  she  was  going  ;  but  at  the  same 
time  she  was  at  heart  conscious  of  the  probabihty, 
for  while  I  was  in  her  room  on  Monday  evening 
I  heard  her  praying,  clearly  and  distinctly,  that  if  it 
was  God's  will  to  take  her  she  might  be  willing  to 
go,  and  that  papa  might  have  strength  given  him  to 
bear  her  leaving,  and  that  his  way  might  be  made 
plain.  It  was  a  beautiful  prayer  ;  I  would  fain  have 
remembered  every  word.  Poor  dear  mamma !  how 
little  we  all  thought  it,  as  we  enjoyed  our  merry 
Christmas  at  Knockholt.  For  her  verily  it  is  all 
joy  ;  for  us,  and  above  all  comparison  for  papa, 
how  sad  !  We  have  been  loaded  with  kindness — 
above  all  from  Mr.  Fraser,  and  Mr.  Henry 
Vavasseur.     Mr.  Spicer  also  has  been  most  kind. 

[Robert  Moffat  vvrote  to  his  old  friend  and  fellow- 
labourer,  Roger  Edwards,  of  Port  Elizabeth,  as 
follows  : 

"  The  black  border  has,  I  presume,  already  told  its  tale, 
that  I  am  in  affliction.  Yes,  it  is  even  so  ;  for  the  wife  of 
my  youth,  the  partaker  of  my  joys  and  sorrows  for  more 
than  half  a  century,  has  been  taken  from  me.  She  is 
gone  to  the  many  mansions  to  which  she  has  been  daily 
looking  forward  with  the  full  assurance  of  faith  for  more 
than  sixty  years.  She  never  knew  what  it  was  to  have  a 
single  doubt  or  fear  as  to  her  eternal  happiness.  The 
winter  was  too  severe  for  her.  She  caught  cold,  but  knew 
not  how.  It  excited  no  particular  alarm  for  some  time, 
till  it  assumed  the  form  of  bronchitis.  The  day  before  she 
died  she  walked  about  the  bed-room,  anxious  to  come  down 
to  the  parlour.  The  last  words  she  spoke,  about  an  hour 
before    she    expired,    were    begging    me    to  go  to   bed,  as 


38o      HER   CARE   OVER   HER   HUSBAND. 

Jeanie's  presence  would  suffice.  As  she  said  she  could  not 
sleep  till  I  should  go,  I  only  hid  myself  for  a  few  minutes. 
She  did  fall  asleep,  but  it  was  the  sleep  of  death.  Her 
mind,  for  three  or  four  days  previously,  occasionally 
wandered,  but  it  was  always  in  the  right  direction  :  the 
Redeemer's  reign  among  the  heathen,  the  printing  of  the 
Scriptures,  Kuruman  and  the  Bechwanas.  How  lonely  I 
feel !  and  but  for  Jeanie  it  would  be  much  more  so.  I 
long  unusually  to  hear  from  you,  and  how  your  family  and 
all  the  Bay  friends  are.  My  dear  brother,  old  friends  are 
leaving  us  for  a  better,  a  happier  world,  and  we  naturally 
feel  our  hearts  cleaving  closer  to  those  who  yet  remain. 
How  are  dear  Mrs.  E.  and  your  children,  and  how  is  your 
own  health  .-'  We  are  both  looking  forward  to  our  heavenly 
home." 

Reference  has  already  been  made  to  her  wide- 
spreading  sympathy.  The  ties  of  kindred  were  by 
her  esteemed  worthy  of  religious  cultivation.  Be- 
sides this,  she  gave  systematic  recognition  to  the 
claims  which  arose  out  of  brotherhood  in  Christian 
work.  This  did  not  attenuate  the  strength  of  her 
sense  of  duty  in  her  own  home.  She  watched  over 
her  husband's  health  and  comfort  with  a  care  which 
only  grew  more  constant  in  the  course  of  fifty  years. 
She  used  to  say,  that  although  not  able  to  take  a 
prominent  part  in  direct  missionary  work,  it  was  her 
satisfaction  to  provide  for  the  temporal  wants  of  a 
servant  of  Christ  who  was  doing  this  work;  and  she 
felt — what  was  true — that  he  never  would  have  been 
the  missionary  he  was  but  for  her  care  of  him. 
Even  when  life  was  numbered  by  hours,  and  on  the 
very  shore  of  the  dark  river,  she  would  not  rest  until 
assured  that  his  wants  were  beingf  attended  to.  Her 
children  thank  God  for  such  a  mother.] 

At  first  we  feared  much  for  our  father,  who  had 


MOFFAT   TRAVELS  FOR    THE   SOCIETY.   381 

been  so  dependent  upon  her.      His  first  exclamation 
on    finding   her   really  gone  was,   "  For   fifty-three 
years  I  have  had  her  to  pray  for  me."    We  remained 
at   Harrington   Road    till    May,    1871.      Our  father 
turned  from   all   thoughts  of  a  settled  home,  feel- 
ing  as   if    no  place  could  be   home    now   that  our 
mother  was  gone  :  so  we  took  apartments    in  the 
Brixton  Road,  and  these  were  our  headquarters  till 
the  winter.     In  April  we  paid  a  short  visit  to  Miss 
Eisdell,    at    Epsom,    our    father   preaching   on    the 
Sunday.    In  May  he  attended  the  London  meetings. 
In    June    we   went   down    to    Manchester   for   the 
missionary  meetings  there.    He  addressed  a  Sunday- 
school    gathering    in     the     Free    Trade     Hall    on 
Sunday,  June  the  eleventh.     Dr.  Turner,  of  Samoa, 
and   Richard   Fletcher,   son  of  a  previous    minister 
of  Grosvenor  Street,  also  took  a  part.     He  went 
through  the  whole  series  of  missionary  services  at 
Manchester  and  Liverpool ;  and  had  the  satisfaction 
of  again  meeting  old  friends  such  as  the  Sheldons 
and  Mrs.  Woodward.     Then  he  passed  to  Notting- 
ham, where  he  met  Dr.  Mullens,  and  the  first  col- 
lections were  made  for  the  proposed  Institute  at  the 
Kuruman  ;  Mrs.  Rogers,  widow  of  Professor  Henry 
Rogers,  and  daughter  of  Samuel  Fletcher,  of  Man- 
chester,  having   made    the    first   donation.       From 
Nottingham  he  returned  to  Manchester,  and  so  on 
to   Warrington.     There    we    stayed  with   Mr.    and 
Mrs.  Walter  Ashton,  and  we  also  spent  an  evening 
with    Dr.    Mackie,    whose    adopted    daughter    was 
baptized    by   our   father.      One  day    was    spent   in 
visiting    High    Leigh     with    Dr,    Mackie  and    Mr. 
Rylands.      He  of  course   found  there  many  altera- 


3S2      THE  OLD  HOUSE  AT  DUKINFIELD. 

tlons,  but  plenty  to  remind  him  of  his  early  life 
there  :  particularly  the  room  or  cottage  in  which  he 
had  lived,  the  church,  and  many  of  the  trees.  After 
visiting  some  other  places  endeared  by  old  associa- 
tions, we  returned  south  and  spent  a  month  at 
Knockholt.  During  this  month  he  went  to  Wim- 
borne  for  the  Bible  Society,  and  was  entertained  by 
the  Hon.  and  Rev.  Carr  Glynn.  He  always  looked 
back  with  great  pleasure  to  this  visit.  We  returned 
to  Brixton,  and  remained  there  till  the  middle  of 
September.  He  was  not  very  well,  and  made  a 
stay  at  Brighton  with  Mr.  Unwin  till  recruited,  and 
then  set  out  for  the  west,  partly  on  missionary  duty 
and  partly  to  visit  old  friends.  It  was  on  this 
occasion  that  a  thousand  pounds  were  raised  in 
Bristol  for  the  Institute  in  Bechwanaland.  In  the 
middle  of  October  he  again  paid  Lancashire  a  visit 
to  attend  missionary  meetings,  and  visited  the 
Reyners  and  Cheethams  of  Ashton  and  Staleybridge. 
He  visited  the  old  house  at  Dukinfield  from  which 
our  mother  went  forth  to  Africa  in  18 19,  now  called 
"Plantation  Farm."  He  also  went  to  Fairfield,  the 
Moravian  school  at  which  our  mother  was  educated. 
The  matron  remembered  her,  having  been  a  little 
girl  at  the  school  when  our  mother  was  an  elder 
one.  The  building  was  the  same,  but  the  surround- 
ings changed.  From  this  time  onwards,  till  near 
the  end  of  the  year,  he  was  engaged  in  deputation 
services,  which  resulted  more  especially  in  the  raising 
of  large  sums  for  the  Institute. 

[For  many  years  it  had  been  plain  to  those  en- 
gaged in  the  Bechwana  Mission  that  a  necessary 
step  in  advance  would  be  the  planting  of  a  seminary, 


THE   INSTITUTE  AT  KURUMAN.         383 

and  the  training  of  a  native  ministry.  More  than 
once  attempts  had  been  made  in  this  direction,  but 
no  permanent  success  had  been  achieved.  In  a 
meeting  of  missionaries  at  Kuruman  a  short  time 
before  Moffat's  departure,  the  attention  of  the 
Directors  at  home  had  been  formally  drawn  to  the 
subject,  and  their  aid  had  been  requested.  Nothing 
was  done,  but  the  subject  was  much  on  Moffat's 
mind.  On  the  occasion  of  a  visit  to  Nottingham, 
in  which  the  late  Dr.  Mullens  took  a  part,  reference 
was  made  to  the  need  of  special  funds  for  this  object  ; 
and  the  Nottingham  people  took  it  up  with  great 
spirit,  subscribing  at  once,  in  addition  to  their  or- 
dinary annual  contributions  to  the  general  purposes 
of  the  Society,  a  sum  of  two  hundred  pounds.  This 
was  the  signal  for  a  general  movement,  and  with 
wonderful  energy  and  cheerfulness  the  churches 
throughout  the  country  took  this  way  of  doing 
honour  to  the  old  missionary,  by  whose  name  it  was 
proposed  to  call  the  Institute  that  was  to  be  founded. 
Some  thousands  of  pounds  were  readily  raised. 

It  was  not  his  privilege  to  see  this  money  applied 
as  his  judgment  and  experience  would  have  advised. 
With  his  departure  from  the  Kuruman  new  men 
had  come  to  the  front  in  Bechwanaland,  and  with 
them  came  in  new  plans,  more  theoretical  than  prac- 
tical. But  his  unswerving  loyalty  to  the  Society — a 
loyalty  which  had  carried  him  for  fifty  years  through 
the  friction  and  the  trials  incident  in  the  official 
working  of  even  a  Christian  organization — bore  this 
test  also.] 

In  the  middle  of  December  we  left  our  Brixton 
domicile,  and  went  to  spend  the  winter  at  Ventnor. 


384         INTERVIEW   WITH  THE   QUEEN. 

During  the  whole  of  the  year  1871  he  had  been 
revising  proof-sheets  of  the  Old  Testament  in 
Sechwana,  and  he  devoted  himself  more  entirely  to 
this  work  at  Ventnor.  We  remained  there  till  the 
beginning  of  April,  1872.  We  went  thence  to 
Gosport,  where  he  addressed  meetings,  and  stayed 
with  Mr.  Jellie  in  Dr.  Bogue's  old  house,  the  same 
in  which  our  mother  sojourned  when,  as  Mary 
Smith,  she  was  waiting  to  sail  for  Africa.  Here  he 
heard  that  the  Queen  was  to  cross  from  Osborne 
the  next  morning,  and  expressed  a  wish  to  get  a 
sight  of  her,  never  having  had  that  privilege. 
Through  the  kindness  of  an  officer,  a  member  of 
Mr.  Jellies  church,  he  got  a  good  standing-place, 
and  not  only  saw  her,  but,  to  his  surprise  and  pleasure, 
was  by  her  Majesty's  own  desire  introduced. 

Whilst  at  Ventnor  he  had  received  from  the 
Senate  of  Edinburgh  University  the  offer  of  a 
degree,  which,  after  consultation  with  friends,  he 
agreed  to  accept ;  and  after  a  visit  to  Brighton,  to 
meet  his  son  and  family  just  arrived  home  from 
Africa,  he  proceeded  to  Edinburgh,  where  he  was 
duly  capped  D.D.  Returning  from  Edinburgh, 
where  he  had  been  the  guest  of  the  Rev.  G.  D. 
Cullen,  he  entered  on  an  extended  course  of  depu- 
tation work  for  the  Society.  The  notes  of  the 
year  point  to  places  all  over  the  north  of  England. 
He  had  the  happiness  of  seeing  other  friends  whose 
attachment  had  been  lifelong,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Edward 
Greaves,  of  Sheffield. 

Our  father  had  started  from  London  tired,  and 
his  exertions  ever  since  made  him  almost  come  to  a 
halt  at  Kendal.      However,  having  promised  to  go 


MONUMENT   TO    DR.    MOFFAT   AT   ORMISTON. 


VISIT   TO   MR.   BLACK  AT  MELROSE.     385 

to  Scotland,  he  pushed  on,  and  gradually  gained 
strength.  Whilst  in  Scotland  we  visited  Inver- 
keithing  and  Ormiston,  both  places  full  o  f  interest. 
He  spent  the  Sunday  at  Ormiston,  and  preached  in 
the  old  parish  kirk,  in  the  graveyard  of  which  his 
grandparents  were  buried.  In  the  evening  he  gave 
an  address  at  Winton  Castle,  the  residence  of  Lady 
Ruthven,  with  whom  he  was  staying.  In  the 
gardens  of  Ormiston  Hall,  the  cottage  still  stands 
in  which  his  mother  was  born.  He  could  find  only 
very  distant  connections  in  Ormiston,  and  the 
cottage  in  which  he  was  born  was  not  standing. 
However,  he  much  enjoyed  the  visit.  Thence  he 
went  to  Melrose,  and  spent  several  days  with  Adam 
Black,  then  in  his  ninetieth  year.  It  was  a  pleasant 
time.  Mr.  Black  was  hale  and  hearty,  and  Mrs. 
Black  so  cheerful  and  kind  a  hostess,  although  quite 
blind.  Dr.  Lindsay  Alexander  was  also  a  guest, 
and  added  not  a  little  to  the  enjoyment  of  the 
party.  The  weather  was  exceptionally  beautiful, 
and  besides  fully  exploring  Melrose  Abbey,  which 
Mr.  Black's  grounds  adjoined,  he  greatly  enjoyed 
visiting  Dryburgh  Abbey  and  Abbotsford.  He 
then  went  to  the  west,  more  especially  to  see  the 
Livingstones.  The  visit  was  much  clouded  by  the 
serious  illness  of  Dr.  Livingstone's  son  Thomas,  an 
illness  from  which  he  never  fully  recovered. 

Our  father  left  Hamilton  for  Stirlinof,  and  met 
with  a  slight  railway  accident,  the  only  one  in  all  his 
travels.  He  was,  however,  none  the  worse,  beyond 
the  momentary  shock,  and  was  able  to  assist  a  fellow- 
passenger  to  walk  the  little  distance  that  remained. 
Leaving  Scotland,  he  spent  six  weeks  in  Yorkshire 

26 


386  VISIT  TO   SIR   TITUS   SALT. 

and  Lancashire,  holding  four  or  five  meetings  every 
week,  and  enjoying  the  hospitaHty  of  many  friends 
old  and  new.  His  stay  at  Crow's  Nest,  the  residence 
of  Sir  Titus  Salt,  was  specially  interesting  ;  the  last 
two  days  of  it  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Binney,  Dr.  and  Mrs. 
Raleigh,  and  Mr.  Samuel  Morley  being  also  guests. 
He  returned  to  London  tired,  but  wonderfully 
vigorous  considering  all  that  he  had  done. 


CHAPTER    XXXVI. 

MOFFAT  REVISITS   CARRONSHIRE, 
1873. 

DURING  the  winter  of  1872-3,  after  wander- 
ing about  homeless  for  two  years  and  a  half, 
although  enjoying  the  hospitality  of  so  many 
friends,  he  made  up  his  mind  to  settle  once  more 
into  a  home  of  his  own,  and  accordingly  in  January, 
1873,  took  up  his  abode  in  Knowle  Road,  Brixton, 
where  he  lived  for  nearly  seven  years.  The  great 
privilege  he  enjoyed  here  was  the  ministry  of  the 
Rev.  Baldwin  Brown.  When  not  himself  engaged 
in  preaching,  he  was  almost  invariably  in  his  seat 
morning  and  evening,  for  he  never  liked  to  lose  an 
opportunity  of  hearing  Mr.  Brown,  between  whom 
and  himself  sprang  up  a  warm  affection.  He  soon 
became  interested  in  the  mission-work  in  Lambeth 
in  connection  with  Mr.  Brown's  church.  He  first 
went  down  to  the  penny  dinners,  and  then  was  fre- 
quently present  at  the  tea  meetings  and  other  enter- 
tainments for  the  poor,  whether  held  at  the  Mission 
Hall  in  Lambeth  or  in  the  lecture-room  of  Brixton 
Independent  Church. 


388  PRESENTATION  OF  ;^5ooo. 

[To  a  very  large  extent  the  motive  which  had 
given  strength  to  the  stream  of  Hberal  contribution 
to  the  Institute  to  be  founded  in  Bechwanaland  had 
been  a  desire  to  give  expression  to  the  love  and 
respect  which  had  gathered  round  him  who  alone 
survived  of  the  early  founders  of  the  mission,  but  it 
was  felt  by  many  that  an  even  more  direct  proof  of 
these  feelings  might  be  found.  In  the  year  1873 
he  was  presented  by  a  large  number  of  friends  with 
a  sum  of  upwards  of  five  thousand  pounds.  This 
noble  and  unlooked-for  act  of  liberality  not  only 
provided  for  his  wants  during  the  remaining  eleven 
years  of  his  life,  but  enabled  him  to  serve  the 
Directors  and  the  cause  of  missions  without  being 
chargeable  upon  the  regular  income  of  the  Society. 
It  moreover  enabled  him  to  meet  the  wants  of  a 
widowed  daughter  and  her  fatherless  family,  for 
whom  no  other  support  was  forthcoming. 

The  same  year  the  Rev.  Sabine  Knight  called  upon 
him  as  a  casual  visitor,  like  many  more.  But  Mr. 
Knight  had  a  message  of  unusual  interest  to  convey. 
Reference  has  been  made  to  a  brother  of  Mary 
Moffat  who  had  gone  to  the  United  States,  and  had 
been  lost  sight  of  for  many  years.  His  sister,  with 
the  tenacity  of  affection  which  marked  her  character, 
would  not  give  him  up.  From  year  to  year  she 
looked  for  news  of  him,  but  no  news  came.  On  one 
occasion,  seeing  a  name  similar  to  his  in  a  Van 
Dieman's  Land  newspaper,  she  had  written  thither, 
drawing  a  bow  at  a  venture.  This  letter  was  re- 
turned, the  person  into  whose  hands  it  came  being 
not  the  brother  whom  she  sought.  For  some  years 
familiar  with  the  prospect  of  her  departure  from  this 


MARY  MOFFATS   LONG-LOST   BROTHER.  3S9 

world,  and  in  view  of  it,  she  had  again  written  a  long 
letter  treating  of  the  great  subjects  ever  so  near  to 
her  heart,  the  realities  of  eternity,  and  sealing  it  up, 
had  placed  it  in  her  husband's  hands  to  be  in  readi- 
ness when  wanted, 

Mr.  Knight  had  just  returned  to  England  after 
a  residence  of  some  years  in  the  State  of  Tennessee, 
and  from  him  Moffat  had  the  happiness  of  hearing 
that  his  long-lost  brother-in-law  was  still  living,  and 
was  thus  enabled  to  fulfil  his  Mary's  cherished  wish. 
The  brother,  who  thus  received  a  message  as  it  were 
from  the  grave,  has  himself  since  passed  away.] 

In  May  our  father  went  down  to  Scotland  to 
address  meetings,  glad  at  the  same  time  to  escape 
the  bustle  and  excitement  of  the  anniversaries  in 
London.  Miss  Baxter  was  his  hostess  at  Ellan- 
gowan,  near  Dundee  ;  and  he  broke  the  journey  by 
resting  a  day  and  night  with  his  old  friends  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Habershon,  at  Rotherham,  and  a  night 
in  Edinburgh  at  Mr.  Cullen's.  He  attended  many 
meetings  in  the  towns  along  the  east  coast  of  Scot- 
land, and  had,  moreover,  the  happiness  of  seeing 
Murray  of  Lintrose,  near  Cupar  Angus,  one  of  the 
African  travellers  who  had  been  in  the  habit  of 
calling  at  Kuruman,  and  had  left  such  pleasant 
memories  behind  them  there.  His  friends  in  Man- 
chester claimed  him  for  their  meetings,  after  which 
he  again  made  his  way  back  to  Scotland,  apparently 
unfatigued,  and  was  the  guest  of  a  fellow-passenger 
from  the  Cape,  Mr.  Yellowlees,  of  Stirling.  Here 
he  again  attended  meetings,  and  visited  Carronshore 
for  the  first  time  after  sixty  years. 

[Mr.   Yellowlees  has  furnished  the  following  ac- 


390      LETTER   FROM  MR.   YELLOWLEES. 

count  of  this  visit,  which  will  have  an  interest  of  its 
own : 

"Stirling,  Jan.  12,  1885. 
"  My  dear  Miss  Moffat, — When  my  wife  and  I  had 
the  privilege  of  being  fellow-passengers  with  you  on 
the  voyage  from  South  Africa  in  the  summer  of  1870, 
your  late  father  told  me  that  several  of  his  youthful 
years  were  spent  at  Carronshore,  an  out-lying  village  on 
the  banks  of  the  River  Carron,  near  its  junction  with 
the  Forth,  and  about  nine  miles  distant  from  Stirling. 
We  agreed  then  that  on  his  first  visit  to  me  here  we 
should  spend  an  afternoon  at  this  village,  that  he  might 
revive  old  memories  and  possibly  renew  acquaintanceships 
formed  in  'the  days  of  auld  lang  syne.'  This  intention 
was  carried  out  in  the  autumn  of  1872,  and  the  following 
short  sketch  of  this  incident  in  the  life  of  your  honoured 
father  may  not  be  out  of  place  in  the  Memoir  now  being 
edited  by  your  brother  ;  at  all  events,  I  send  it  to  you  that 
he  may  make  what  use  of  it  he  thinks  proper. — With  much 
respect,  I  remain,  yours  sincerely, 

"Robert  Yellowlees. 


"  Dr.  Moffat  left  Carronshore  in  1809,  when  he  was 
fourteen  years  of  age,  and  as  his  father  had  removed  to 
Inverkeithing  he  had  never  had  occasion  to  return  ;  so  that 
sixty-three  years  had  elapsed  since  his  leaving,  till  his 
return  to  pay  a  visit  to  this  home  of  his  boyhood. 

"  On  our  driving  up  to  the  village  green  it  was  some  little 
time  before  Dr.  Moffat  could  realize  that  this  was  just  the 
place  he  had  left  so  long  ago,  principally  on  account  of 
roadways  and  truck-lines  to  coalpits  that  were  all  new  to 
him.  But  soon  his  eye  lighted  and  rested  on  a  certain 
red-tiled  cottage  near  the  old  storehouses  of  the  Carron 
Company,  which  he  fondly  recognized  as  having  been  his 
father's  dwelling,  and  erelong  the  rest  of  the  village  and  its 
surroundings  became  familiar  to  him.  He  expressed  a 
wish  to  find  out  whether  any  of  his  old  companions  still 


AN  OLD  SCHOOLMATE  AT  CARRONSHORE.  391 

survived  after  so  long  an  interval  ;  so  I  accosted  a  group  of 
collier  lads  who  were  busy  at  a  game  of  pitch-and-toss, 
and,  after  telling  them  who  their  venerable  visitor  was,  Dr. 
Moffat  made  inquiry  about  a  family  of  McKillops.  No, 
there  was  no  such  name  now  in  Carronshore.  *  The 
Patons  ? '  No  ;  one  of  the  lads  was  sure  he  had  heard 
his  father  speak  about  people  of  that  name,  but  they  were 
all  gone  long  ago.  'William  Monteith .? '  'Ah,  did  he 
drive  the  carrier's  cart  from  Falkirk  to  Edinburgh  ? ' 
asked  the  spokesman  of  the  group.  '  Yes,  that  was  just 
the  man.  Well,  he  is  deid  lang  syne,  but  the  woman  you 
see  standing  at  yon  door  is  a  dochter  of  his.' 

"  This  link  of  connection  with  an  old  acquaintance  so 
excited  Dr.  Moffat's  eagerness  to  make  further  inquiries, 
that  we  drove  to  the  only  available  stabling-place  to  get 
the  horse  put  up.  Before  leaving  the  stable  door,  we  were 
struck  by  the  appearing  of  a  little,  quaint,  old-fashioned 
woman,  wearing  a  Scotchwoman's  undress  of  short  skirt, 
short  gown,  and  mutch.  She  ran  up  to  Dr.  Moffat,  seized 
him  by  both  hands,  and  then,  quite  speechless  with  excite- 
ment, racing,  and  chronic  asthma,  stood  gazing  up  to  his 
face,  while  the  Doctor  looked  down  on  her  with  a  benign 
but  puzzled  smile. 

"  At  last  she  found  some  utterance,  and  gasped  out, 
*  Are — you — really — the — great  Moffat  ?  '  *  Well,  I  believe 
I  must  be  the  person  you  refer  to,  whether  great  or  not  ; 
but  why  do  you  ask  ? '  *  Why !  Because  I  was  at  the 
schule  wi'  ye — my  name  is  Mary  Kay,  and  you'll  surely 
come  to  mind  me  ;  I  sat  in  the  class  next  ye,  and  ye  often 
helped  me  wi'  my  lessons.  I  have  aye  keepit  my  e'e  on 
you  since  you  left  Carronshore,  and  I'll  let  you  see  a  lot  of 
your  ain  likenesses.  I  was  aye  sure  you  would  come 
back  to  see  this  place  some  day  ;  and  though  I  didna 
expect  ye  the  noo,  I'm  fair  daft  wi'  joy  at  seeing  ye.' 

"  Under  the  guidance  of  this  enthusiastic  conductor,  the 
first  visit  was  paid  to  his  father's  old  cottage.  The  tenant, 
Mrs.  Arthur,  courteously  invited  us  to  enter,  and  here  there 
was  no  indistinctness  of  memory  as  the  Doctor  rearranged 
the  furniture  by  telling  us  how  '  our  eight-day  clock  stood 


392         A    COLLECTION   OF  PORTRAITS. 

here,  and  the  girnel  (oatmeal  chest)  stood  there,  and  the 
aumrie  (cupboard)  stood  over  in  that  corner;'  and  as  he 
recalled,  not  without  fitting  emotion,  the  scenes  of  do- 
mestic piety,  of  gladness  and  of  sadness,  that  he  had 
witnessed  there,  and  by  which  his  life  and  character  had 
been  impressed  and  moulded. 

"  Our  next  visit  was  to  the  shore  of  the  Carron — here 
a  deep  and  torpid  river  of,  I  should  think,  about  forty  feet 
in  breadth.  His  fond  imagination  had  wonderfully  widened 
it ;  but  when  he  saw  it  as  it  was,  he  was  disillusioned  and 
almost  painfully  disappointed.  '  Is  it  possible,'  I  remem- 
ber his  remarking  with  great  naturalness,  '  that  this  really 
narrow  stream  is  what  I  have  so  long  thought  of  as  a 
broad  river  ;  and  that  I  could  think  myself  to  be  a  man 
when  I  was  able  sixty-three  years  ago  to  swim  from  the 
one  bank  to  the  other  !  But,  after  all,  I  need  not  wonder  at 
the  difference  between  my  conception  of  the  size  of  the 
Carron  and  the  reality,  for  it  seems  to  me  that  even  the 
Firth  of  Forth  has  shrunk  in  wofully  since  I  first  knew  it ! ' 

"At  Mary  Kay's  invitation  we  then  went  to  rest  in  her 
cottage,  and  there  she  fulfilled  her  promises  about  the  like- 
nesses. She  produced  an  ancient  volume  (Baxter's  '  Saint's 
Rest,'  if  I  remember  rightly)  which  answered  the  purpose 
of  a  modern  album,  for  its  leaves  were  interspersed  with 
numerous  woodcut  likenesses  of  Dr.  Moffat,  clipped  out  of 
illustrated  almanacs,  London  Missionary  and  other  maga- 
zines, &c.  These  were  her  favourite  art  treasures,  and  she 
declared  they  were  all  faithful  likenesses  :  'they  were  even 
like  him  yet,  except  that  he  had  grown  a  terribly  lang 
beard,  and  she  never  could  thole  these  lang  beards.  Al- 
though,' she  added  apologetically,  '  to  be  sure,  John  Knox 
had  a  lang  beard,  just  like  yersel'.' 

"  Dr.  Moffat  was  anxious  to  know  whether  any  more  of 
his  schoolmates  were  still  alive  and  resident  in  the  locality. 
Mary  Kay  could  tell  us  there  was  only  one,  and  she  was  then 
•en  a  visit  to  grandchildren  at  Greenock  ;  but  there  was  a 
master  tailor  in  the  village — whose  name  I  may  suppose  to 
be  Andrew  Johnstone — who  might  perhaps  remember  him; 
it  was  worth  calling  to  see.     We  called,  and  found  the  old 


THE   SCEPTICAL    TAILOR.  393 

tailor  cross-legged  on  his  board,  and  busy  at  work.  Our 
zealous  guide  introduced  us  by  saying,  '  Andrew,  man, 
here's  Moffat  come  to  see  you,  the  great  missionary  from 
Africa.'  'Aye,  aye,  maybe  he  is,'  replied  the  cautious 
Andrew  ;  *  but  there  are  plenty  of  folks  ganging  about  the 
country  noo-a-days  passin'  themsel's  aff  as  great  men,  and 
they  are  just  a  wheen  impostors.'  This  was  rather  a  stag- 
gering response;  but  it  was  met  with,  *0  man  !  Andrew, 
are  you  no  believin'  mc,  and  I've  kenned  him  m3'scr  a'  my 
days.'  On  this  Andrew  stopped  his  needle  for  the  first 
time,  looked  round  on  Dr.  Moffat,  and  in  an  oracular  tone 
said,  '  Are  you  aware,  sir !  that  if  you  were  really  the  per- 
son you  represent  yourself  to  be,  you  would  be  the  father- 
in-law  of  Livingstone,  the  African  explorer  .-• '  '  And  so  I 
am.'  This  quiet  reply  from  the  Doctor  was  rousing  ;  the 
crossed  legs  became  straight  and  perpendicular.  Andrew 
raised  his  spectacles  to  get  a  fuller  view  of  the  visitor,  and 
exclaimed,  '  Is  it  possible  that  the  father-in-law  of  Living- 
stone stands  before  me,  and  under  my  humble  roof?  '  His 
doubts  were  dispelled,  and  he  tried  by  effusive  expressions 
of  respect  to  make  amends  for  the  somewhat  rude  incre- 
dulity that  marked  his  reception  of  us. 

"  Meanwhile  a  crowd  of  collier  lads  and  other  villagers 
had  gathered  round  the  tailor's  house,  and  Dr.  Moffat,  ever 
ready  to  advance  the  cause  for  which  he  lived  and  laboured 
so  nobly,  gave  them  an  open-air  address  on  South  African 
Missions  ;  and,  before  parting,  came  under  a  promise  to 
meet  them  again  ere  long,  and  give  them  a  fuller  account 
of  mission  work. 

"  I  shall  conclude  the  sketch  of  this  visit  by  remarking 
that  this  promise  was  faithfully  redeemed.  Dr.  IMoffat 
afterwards  addressed  crowded  and  enthusiastic  meetings 
in  Carronshore  ;  he  came  specially  from  England  to  take 
part  in  the  opening  services  of  Carron  Church,  where  my 
brother  was  and  still  is  minister.  Moreover,  he  gladdened 
Miss  Kay's  heart  by  presenting  her  with  copies  of  his 
published  works,  and  enriched  her  album  with  a  photo- 
graph ;  which  (if  alive)  she  still  no  doubt  cherishes  as  the 
gift  of  her  old  schoolmate — '  the  great  Moffat.'  "] 


394  ^^^   HOME   AT  BANTASKINE. 

While  at  Stirling  our  father  was  invited  by  John 
Wilson,  of  South  Bantaskine,  Falkirk,  to  be  his 
guest.  It  was  the  first  of  many  pleasant  visits,  and 
the  beginning  of  a  friendship  which  lasted  in  this 
world  till  the  year  when  both  were  called  home. 
From  his  bed-room  window  at  Bantaskine — the  spot 
where  the  battle  of  Falkirk  was  fought,  a  mile  and 
a  half  south  of  the  town — he  looked  out  upon  the 
same  furnaces  at  Carron  Iron  Works  upon  which 
he  had  looked  as  a  boy.  He  could  point  out  every 
change  that  had  taken  place  in  Falkirk  in  the  way 
of  building,  and  it  was  hard  to  say  whether  he  or 
Mr.  Wilson  most  enjoyed  their  visiting  together 
the  old  scenes  of  his  boyhood — Carronshore,  the 
school  at  Falkirk  to  which  he  used  to  walk  every 
day  for  a  year  three  miles  each  way,  the  church  at 
which  he  used  to  attend  with  his  mother,  and  Park 
Hill,  Polmont,  where  he  served  his  apprenticeship. 
Each  visit  to  Bantaskine — which  was  about  every 
two  years  after  this — he  entered  afresh  into  all  the 
old  memories,  and  never  failed  to  visit  and  to  have 
a  chat  with  two  old  schoolfellows,  Mrs.  Gilchrist 
and  Mrs.  Higgins. 

However  wearied  and  worn-out  with  meetings, 
when  he  arrived  at  South  Bantaskine  there  was  some- 
thing in  the  very  air  and  surroundings,  as  well  as 
in  that  genial  home,  which  made  him  begin  to  rally 
at  once,  and  sent  him  away  with  strength  renewed. 

After  his  first  visit  to  Bantaskine  he  proceeded 
on  an  extended  tour  through  Scotland,  and  then 
part  of  England,  renewing  old  recollections  and 
visiting  friends,  but  always  and  everywhere  address- 
ing audiences  on  missionary  work,  a  duty  of  which 


DEATH   OF  A   GRANDSON.  395 

he  never  wearied,  as  he  had  never  wearied  of  the 
work  itself.  Whilst  on  this  tour,  the  news  reached 
him  of  the  death  in  East  Africa  of  his  grandson  and 
namesake,  Robert  Moffat,  who  died  whilst  serving 
with  the  search  expedition  which  had  been  sent  out 
under  Captain  Cameron  to  follow  Livingstone. 


CHAPTER   XXXVII. 
FAREWELL   TO   CHILDREN. 
1874. 

OUR  father  was  not  sorry,  after  an  absence  of 
four  months,  to  return  to  his  home  in  Brix- 
ton, where  he  spent  the  winter  free  from 
public  work  :  the  principal  family  event  being  his  son's 
departure  for  South  Africa.  A  farewell  meeting  was 
held  at  the  Rev.  Baldwin  Brown's  lecture-room,  and 
the  sailing  of  the  steamer  being  deferred,  the  next 
day  was  spent  in  his  home  at  Brixton  with  a  crowd 
of  his  children  and  grandchildren  around  him.  The 
seeing  the  voyagers  off  was  sad  enough,  with  the 
prospect  of  beholding  them  no  more  in  this  world, 
and  the  intense  desire  to  go  with  them — for  his  heart 
was  still  in  Africa.  The  solemn  and  earnest  gaze 
which  he  fixed  on  his  children  till  the  last  possible 
moment,  as  the  vessel  slowly  moved  away,  was  more 
eloquent  than  words.  A  few  weeks  later,  Living- 
stone's remains  were  brought  home,  and  he  went 
down  to  Southampton  to  meet  them.  The  part  he 
had  to  take  in  the  identification,  and  his  presence  at 
the  funeral  in  Westminster  Abbey,  were  all  to  him 


WELCOMES  A  DAUGHTER  FROM  S.  AFRICA.  397 

deeply  affecting  circumstances.  About  this  time  he 
was  called  to  stand  by  the  grave  of  another  old 
friend,  Thomas  Binney.  A  strong  attachment  had 
existed  between  the  two  men,  dating  from  our 
father's  first  visit  home  in  1840.  Binney  had  given 
him  much  valuable  assistance  whilst  writing  his 
book,  and  had  been  a  kind  adviser  to  each  of  his 
sons  successively  when  home  for  their  education. 

The  greater  part  of  the  year  was  spent  in  deputa- 
tion work  for  the  Society,  beginning  with  London 
and  its  neighbourhood,  until  after  May,  when  ex- 
tended tours  were  taken,  and  meetings  held  in 
nearly  all  the  southern  counties  of  England  and 
Wales.  We  reached  home  from  this  round  in 
November,  and  the  winter  was  spent  quietly  at 
home,  with  occasional  attendance  at  meetings  of 
one  sort  or  another. 

In  April,  1875,  he  again  began  work  with  the 
meetings  of  the  season.  He  paid  a  hasty  visit  to 
Glasgow  in  May,  to  be  present  at  the  wedding  of 
his  grandson,  Oswell  Livingstone  ;  returning  imme- 
diately to  London,  where  he  had  the  pleasure  of 
welcoming  his  daughter  Bessie  and  her  husband, 
on  a  visit  home  from  South  Africa.  His  summer 
campaign  on  behalf  of  the  Missionary  Society  was 
in  the  eastern  counties,  after  which  he  started  for 
Whitehall,  Cumberland,  the  residence  of  Mr.  George 
Moore.  Mr.  Moore  was  in  the  habit  of  having  a 
gathering  of  London  friends  who  helped  him  in 
conducting  Bible  Society  meetings  in  the  neighbour- 
ing villages.  It  was  a  very  interesting  and  enjoy- 
able season.  Besides  the  guests  at  the  Hall,  who 
represented  all  denominations,  the  town  missionaries 


398    LECTURE   AT   WESTMINSTER  ABBEY.        . 

of  Westmoreland  and  Cumberland  were  entertained 
at  the  inn,  and  had  the  full  enjoyment  of  the  beau- 
tiful grounds,  each  day  attending  a  conference  in 
the  old  baronial  hall.  Mr.  Moore  presented  each 
of  them  on  leaving  with  a  copy  of  "  Guthrie  on  the 
Parables,"  as  a  memento  of  their  meeting  with  our 
father.  At  the  close  of  this  pleasant  week  he  went 
on  to  Carlisle,  where  he  held  meetings  for  the  Mis- 
sionary Society,  and  then  proceeded  to  Hamilton  to 
the  marriage  of  his  granddaughter,  Agnes  Living- 
stone, with  Alexander  Bruce  of  Edinburgh.  After 
a  month  spent  in  Scotland  he  returned  to  London, 
taking  some  deputation  work  on  the  way :  but  not 
to  rest,  for  before  he  settled  in  for  the  winter  he  had 
visited  Lancashire  and  Yorkshire,  and  various  places 
in  Kent,  Hampshire,  and  Wales !  He  might  well 
say,  as  he  often  did,  that  people  either  could  not  or 
would  not  see  that  he  was  getting  old.  All  this 
while  he  was  seldom  without  some  occupation  in 
the  way  of  revising  proof-sheets  of  the  Sechwana 
Hymn-book,  Scripture  Selections,  and  the  "  Pil- 
grim's Progress,"  a  new  translation  of  which  last, 
based  upon  his  own,  had  been  prepared  by  his 
son-in-law,  Roger  Price. 

On  St.  Andrew's  Day  he  lectured  on  Missions  in 
Westminster  Abbey,  and  afterwards  supped  with 
Dean  Stanley  at  Mr.  Flood  Jones's,  Lady  Augusta 
Leing  too  ill  to  entertain  him. 

On  the  twenty-first  of  December,  1875,  he  was 
eighty  years  of  age.  This  day  had  been  fixed  upon 
by  Mr.  Baldwin  Brown  and  his  helpers  for  the 
opening  of  the  new  Mission  Hall  in  Vauxhall  Street, 
Lambeth.    He  was  asked  to  attend — though  without 


ADDRESS  FROM  MINISTERS.  399 

the  knowledge  that  it  was  his  birthday  ;  and  thence- 
forward the  hall  was  called  the  Moffat  Institute.  He 
had  always  been  greatly  interested  in  this  mission, 
and  now  felt  it  had  a  special  claim  upon  him.  He 
received  many  congratulatory  tokens  on  this  day, 
and,  i.^t  least,  a  visit  from  a  deputation  of  Congre- 
gational ministers,  who  presented  him  with  an 
address  signed  by  a  great  number  from  every  part 
of  the  country.  This  address  remains  to  his  chil- 
dren one  of  the  most  valued  mementoes  of  the 
regard  in  which  their  father  was  held  by  so  many 
of  his  fellow-servants  in  Christ. 

The  winter  of  1875-6  was  spent  in  London,  but 
he  had  a  good  many  public  engagements  in  the 
neighbourhood.  In  March,  Roger  Price  sailed  for 
Zanzibar.  Later  on  our  father  visited,  at  Horsham, 
the  dauehters  of  his  former  fellow-labourer  Hel- 
more,  who  laid  down  his  life  for  the  gospel  at 
Linyanti,  in  the  Makololo  country. 

From  Horsham  our  father  went  on  to  Brighton, 
and  spent  a  week  with  Mrs.  Goulty,  It  was  always 
a  special  pleasure  to  visit  her.  She  and  her  late 
husband  were  reckoned  among  those  friends  who 
had  welcomed  him  on  his  first  return  from  South 
Africa,  and  their  attachment  never  wavered. 

[The  following  letter  was  written  to  Mrs.  Goulty 
a  year  or  two  later  on  : 

"  Brixton,  March  23,  1878. 

"Among  the  many  thoughts  which  have  passed  through 
my  mind  to-day,  you  have  not  been  forgotten.  To-morrow 
you  will  enter  on  the  eighty-seventh  year  of  your  pilgrimage. 
I  think  I  can  in  some  degree  enter  into  your  feelings  of 
wonder  and  gratitude — wonder  in  having  been  spared  so 
long,  while  so  many  thousands  have  passed  away  and  gone 


400    LETTER  TO  MRS.  GOULTY  OF  BRIGHTON. 

to  an  unchangeable  and  deathless  state.  Even  among  our 
contemporaries  how  few,  if  any,  remain.  Among  the  last 
of  mine  is  James  Parsons,  of  York.  I  have  been  affectingly 
impressed  with  the  succession  of  mourning-cards  for  friends 
received  since  my  return  from  a  long  life  in  Africa  to  the 
land  of  my  forefathers.  They  are  gone,  but  they  are  only 
gone  before,  enjoying  what  they  so  long  desired — to  be 
present  with  the  Lord.  How  impressive  and  how  solemn 
to  think  of  the  stream  of  human  beings  rushing  on  to  the 
vast  eternity,  and  still  more  so  to  think  of  the  multitude 
moving  along  without  a  thought  of  their  future  destiny. 
Our  hearts  sink  within  us  at  the  thought  of  the  untold 
myriads  perishing  for  whom  Christ  died.  How  the  re- 
flection awakens  our  inmost  emotions  to  exclaim,  *  Oh  to 
grace  how  great  a  debtor  ! '  and  '  Why  was  I  made  to  hear 
His  voice ,'' ' 

"  The  remembrance  of  the  Brighton  Kuruman  Lodge 
and  the  many  incidents,  and  the  now  happy  Mary  playing 
on  the  piano  while  I  was  studying  the  sermon  I  had  to 
preach  before  the  Directors  !  Can  I  ever  forget  the  atten- 
tion of  your  late  beloved  one,  who  received  charge  from  the 
Directors  to  care  for  me  that  my  voice  might,  through 
many  a  walk  on  the  wavy  beach,  return  to  perform  the 
task  appointed  to  me.  It  would  tire  you  to  refer  to  the 
variety  of  apparently  small,  but  to  me  never  to  be  forgotten, 
events.  Will  these  things  be  thought  of  when  we  reach 
'  the  heavenly  fields,  and  walk  the  golden  streets  ? ' 

"  Oh  how  little  we  are  made  to  know  of  that  '  land  afar 
off.*  What  are  its  shining  inhabitants  doing  ?  Perhaps 
the  departed  are,  though  in  glory,  very  near  to  us.  I  was 
with  you  in  spirit  during  your  severe  attack  ;  and  how  good 
it  was  of  Lizzie  and  Isabel  to  report  progress,  which  I  hope 
continues ;  but  old  folks  like  you  and  me  do  not  rally  so 
soon."] 

At  this  time  he  was  much  troubled  by  the 
severe  illness  and  death  in  Egypt  of  his  grandson, 
Thomas  S.  Livingstone,  who  had  been  for  some 
years  in  failing  health.     He  longed  to  accompany 


THE   JUBILEE    SINGERS.  401 

the  friend  who  went  out,  but  felt  it  was  too  far. 
Tom's  genial  spirit  and  frequent  visits  to  his  grand- 
father had  greatly  endeared  him,  and  his  death  was 
a  great  sorrow. 

May  brought  its  usual  round  of  meetings.  On 
the  sixth  he  dined  with  the  Archbishop  of  Canter- 
bury at  Lambeth  Palace.  About  this  time  the 
Jubilee  Singers  were  in  England,  on  their  second 
visit.  He  was  quite  in  his  element  when  with  them, 
and  lost  no  opportunity  of  hearing  them  sing.  When 
at  Brixton  they  came  in  to  him  at  Knowle  Road, 
and  he  and  they  were  both  much  pleased.  They 
afterwards  gave  him  a  photograph  group  of  them- 
selves. In  this  month  he  received  an  invitation 
from  the  Corporation  of  London  to  attend  a  ball 
given  at  Guildhall  in  honour  of  the  Prince  of  Wales 
on  his  return  from  India.  He  accepted  it,  and  went, 
greatly  amused  by  all  he  saw,  though  not  sufficiently 
charmed  to  desire  a  second  such  opportunity.  Later 
in  the  month  he  spoke  at  the  Moravian  Missionary 
Meeting,  which  always  drew  out  his  sympathies,  as 
he  considered  he  owed  his  wife  to  the  Moravians. 
A  day  or  two  after  he  was  to  have  been  with  the 
"  Friends' "  Foreign  Mission  Association,  but  was 
unable  to  attend  on  account  of  a  cold.  "  Sad  dis- 
appointment," he  writes  in  his  note-book.  A  round 
of  engagements  followed  in  town  and  country.  On 
the  twelfth  of  July,  1876,  he  had  the  pleasure  of 
breakfasting  with  Mr.  Gladstone  in  the  house  of 
the  Rev.  Newman  Hall,  along  with  a  number  of 
ministers. 

In  August  he  went  to  Edinbursfh  to  be  at  the 
unveiling  of  Livingstone's  statue,  which  took  place 

27 


402       VISIT   TO   MULLER'S  ORPHANAGE. 

the  day  before  a  similar  ceremonial  for  Prince 
Albert.  He  took  a  great  interest  in  both,  but  per- 
haps still  more  in  another  quite  informal  interview 
with  the  Queen,  who,  hearing  of  his  presence  in 
Edinburgh,  sent  for  him.  She  was  just  starting  for 
a  drive  when  he  arrived,  so  that  they  really  met 
and  exchanged  a  few  words  on  the  staircase 
of  Holyrood  Palace.  Later  on  we  find  him  at 
Bristol,  always,  as  usual,  in  the  thick  of  meetings. 
He  visited  M tiller's  Orphanage,  and  was  intensely 
interested.  One  little  girl  asked  him  to  accept  her 
doll,  a  very  minute  one.  This  touched  him  exceed- 
ingly, and  the  doll  took  its  place  on  his  study 
mantelpiece  till  the  day  of  his  death. 

Constant  engagements  filled  up  the  remainder  of 
the  year.  One  day  it  would  be  a  public  meeting ; 
then  an  address  to  the  boys  at  Mill  Hill  School,  in 
which  he  took  a  special  interest  from  the  presence 
there  of  two  of  his  own  grandsons  ;  then  he  was 
to  be  found  assisting  in  mission  work  at  the  Institute 
in  Lambeth.  He  spent  a  day  at  Wimbledon  with 
Sir  Bartle  Frere,  then  starting  for  South  Africa. 
His  mind  was  very  much  occupied  at  this  time 
with  African  affairs,  and  full  of  anxiety.  The  East 
African  Missions  were  being  started,  and  two  mem- 
bers of  the  Bechwana  staff  transferred  to  them — 
which  did  not  meet  with  his  approval  ;  nor  did  other 
changes  then  taking  place  in  the  Bechwana  field. 
He  never  could  see  any  start  being  made  for  South 
Africa  without  being  greatly  excited.  A  longing 
always  came  over  him  to  go  too.  He  was  restless 
till  the  party  was  away,  which  in  this  case  was  early 
in  1877,  when  Price  and  Dodgshun  left  for  Zanzibar 


VISIT   TO   PARIS.  403 

and  Cockin  for  Matebeleland.  Some  of  the  party 
were  of  his  own  family,  and  started  from  his  house, 
and  his  deepest  feehngs  were  stirred. 

When  all  this  was  over,  he  went  in  April,  1877, 
by  invitation  of  the  French  Missionary  Society,  to 
Paris.  The  day  after  his  arrival  he  addressed, 
through  Theodore  Monod,  four  thousand  Sunday- 
school  children — a  sight  quite  unexpected  in  France. 
They  were  assembled  in  a  circus,  and  the  place  was 
crowded.  These  corresponded,  with  our  French 
friends,  to  the  English  May  meetings ;  but  the 
children  were  thus  collected  only  once  in  two  years, 
it  being  a  much  greater  undertaking  than  in  Eng- 
land. During  his  three  weeks'  sojourn  in  Paris  he 
addressed  nine  meetings,  besides  one  in  Orleans. 
On  all  these  occasions  the  audiences  were  large. 
Not  the  least  interesting  was  a  meeting  held  in  one 
of  Mr.  Mc All's  Mission  rooms.  Here  particularly 
the  people  seemed  to  anticipate  the  meaning  from 
the  gestures,  even  before  they  heard  the  interpre- 
tation. Another  meeting  of  special  interest  was  held 
in  the  Halle  Herz  at  the  request  of  Madame  Andre, 
a  benevolent  and  missionary-spirited  lady,  who  asked 
our  father  to  give  a  lecture  on  Livingstone  as  a 
corrective  to  the  idea  of  sceptics,  who,  it  appeared, 
rejoiced  in  Livingstone  as  one  who  had  given  up 
the  propagation  of  Christianity  as  hopeless  and  had 
turned  to  science.  This  address  was  much  appre- 
ciated and  commented  upon  in  the  Paris  papers. 
Among  his  hearers  was  the  Emperor  of  Brazil.  His 
host  and  hostess  were  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Casalis,  of  the 
Missionary  Society.  Dr.  Casalis  having  been  twenty 
years  in  Basutoland,  they  had  much  in  common.  The 


404    MEETING  AT  THE  HOUSE  OF  CASALIS. 

Casalis  family  were  indefatigable  in  their  kind  atten- 
tion, and  thus  besides  these  meetings  our  father  got 
through  a  great  deal  of  sight-seeing  during  the  three 
weeks,  including  two  days  spent  with  Madame 
Andre  at  Versailles,  and  he  enjoyed  all  immensely. 
I  think  the  tomb  of  Buonaparte  impressed  him  most 
of  all.  The  fact  that  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Casalis  had  been 
shut  up  in  Paris  during  the  siege,  and  that  Madame 
Andre's  house  had  been  the  headquarters  of  the 
Crown  Prince  at  Versailles,  added  not  a  little  to  the 
interest  of  the  sojourn  with  them. 

On  one  occasion  there  was  quite  accidentally  a 
very  interesting  gathering  at  the  breakfast-table  in 
the  house  of  Dr.  Casalis.  Major  Malan,  who  was  so 
devoted  to  Africa,  was  also  staying  there,  and  it  hap- 
pened that  the  Messrs.  Moir,  bound  for  East  Africa, 
were  passing  through  Paris.  The  daughter  of  Casalis, 
born  in  South  Africa,  and  married  to  the  son  of  a 
South  African  missionary,  was  there  with  her  hus- 
band, besides  several  young  French  students  board- 
ing in  the  house,  their  destination  being  also  South 
or  West  Africa.  Very  soon  after,  in  a  few  days,  all 
were  scattered  ;  but  I  think  that  unpremeditated 
meeting,  and  communion  of  kindred  spirits  old  and 
young,  would  hardly  ever  be  forgotten.  So  much 
work  and  pleasure  was  compressed  into  those  three 
weeks  that  our  father  was  pretty  well  worn-out,  and 
was  glad  to  feel  quiet  at  home  again  for  a  day  or 
two  before  going  to  Glasgow  to  address  the  mis- 
sionary meeting  of  the  United  Presbyterian  Synod. 
Here  he  was  the  guest  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  J.  B. 
Kidston,  and  he  never  visited  Scotland  again  with- 
out  renewing   his   enjoyment   of    their   friendship. 


VISITS  THE  KIDSTONS  AT  PORTENCROSS.  405 

From  Glasgow  he  went  to  the  Free  Church  As- 
sembly  meetings  in  Edinburgh,  and  here  also  ad- 
dressed the  missionary  meeting.  He  was  the  guest 
of  Mr.  Dickson  for  the  week.  Dr.  Andrew  Bonar, 
of  Glasgow,  and  a  Norwegian  minister  were  also 
guests,  besides  others  whom  he  met,  making  the 
occasion  one  of  special  enjoyment. 

After  a  visit  to  Falkirk  and  Stirling  friends  he 
found  a  quiet  resting-place  in  a  visit  to  the  Kidstons, 
then  at  Portencross,  on  the  west  coast  of  Scotland, 
where  the  sea  air  quite  set  him  up,  as  it  generally 
did.  He  thoroughly  enjoyed  the  primitiveness  of 
this  then  out-of-the-way  fisher  village,  and  felt  a 
great  pleasure  in  giving  some  idea  of  his  work  in 
South  Africa  to  the  children  of  the  village,  on  the 
Sunday  evening  in  Mr.  Kidston's  house.  Returning 
to  England  he  continued  his  public  work  at  various 
places,  and  spent  a  month  in  visiting  members  and 
connections  of  his  own  family,  carrying  at  the  same 
time  an  edition  of  the  Sechwana  hymn-book  through 
the  press. 


CHAPTER  XXXVIII. 

CLOSING  SCENES. 
1878-1883. 

THE  winter  was  spent  quietly  at  Knowle  Road, 
the  only  break  of  importance  being  his  ad- 
mission to  the  Turners'  Company,  through 
the  nomination  of  his  friend  Professor  Tennant. 
This  took  place  on  the  twentieth  of  December,  and 
a  few  days  later  he  received  the  freedom  of  the  City 
of  London.  He  still  continued  his  visits  to  the  Moffat 
Institute  in  Lambeth,  and  attended  steadily  Mr. 
Baldwin  Brown's  weekly  lectures  on  St.  Bernard, 
PVancis  of  Assisi,  and  Wycliffe,  besides  the  Sabbath 
services.  In  the  spring  of  1878  our  father  again  had 
the  pleasure  of  breakfasting  with  Mr.  Gladstone,  at 
the  house  of  Mr.  Birks,  in  Harley  Street.  In  May 
he  assisted,  with  Mr.  Baldwin  Brown,  at  the  mar- 
riage of  another  of  his  granddaughters,  now  Mrs. 
Mannhardt,  of  Hanerau.  The  year  passed  quietly 
in  visits  to  friends  and  in  some  public  engagements  ; 
but  in  January,  1879,  came  another  of  those  seasons 
of  parting  of  which  he  had  had  so  many.  On  the 
ninth  of  January  his  daughter  Bessie,  with  her  hus- 


VISIT   TO  JERSEY  AND   GUERNSEY.     407 

band  and  younger  children,  left  our  house  to  return 
to  their  work  in  South  Africa.  As  usual,  this  was 
the  signal  for  a  severe  struggle  in  his  own  mind  in 
the  desire  to  go  too. 

In  addition  to  other  public  engagements  among 
his  own  people,  having  promised  to  address  the 
Wesleyan  missionary  meetings  at  Huddersfield,  he 
did  so,  returning  via  Rotherham  to  visit  our  old 
friends  the  Habershons.  It  had  escaped  his  memory 
that  the  annual  meeting  of  the  Bible  Society  was  so 
near.  He  suddenly  discovered  it  while  seated  at  the 
tea-table  surrounded  by  friends,  and  could  not  rest 
till  it  was  settled  that  we  should  start  next  morninof 
early  enough  to  be  at  the  meeting  ;  and  start  we 
did,  in  spite  of  sleet  and  snow,  by  the  train  leaving 
Rotherham  at  seven  in  the  morning.  He  arrived 
in  time  to  enter  soon  after  the  meeting  had  com- 
menced, sat  it  through  with  great  satisfaction,  and 
then  returned  home  to  Brixton,  by  no  means  over- 
done and  quite  lively.  Soon  after  this  he  started  on 
another  round  of  public  duty,  getting  as  far  as  Scot- 
land, where  he  baptized  a  great  grandchild,  Mary 
Livingstone  Bruce. 

At  the  end  of  July  we  went  to  Jersey  and 
Guernsey  for  the  Missionary  Society.  We  were 
accompanied  by  the  Rev.  Edward  Jones.  We  were 
entertained  in  Jersey  by  Mr.  Williams,  who  made  the 
deputation  week  a  combination  of  pleasure  and  work, 
driving  to  all  the  villages  for  meetings  by  the  most 
interesting  routes,  and  occasionally  picnicing  for  the 
sake  of  seeing  some  beautiful  spot  on  our  way.  The 
weather  was  magnificent,  so  that  the  enjoyment  of 
so  much  fresh  air  and  change  of  scene,  with   the 


4o8  REMOVAL  TO  LEIGH  IN  KENT. 

delightful  company  of  his  genial  coadjutor  Mr. 
Jones,  quite  counteracted  the  fatigue  of  the  many 
meetings.  It  was  while  we  were  at  Guernsey  that 
we  first  heard  of  Park  Cottage,  but  did  not  go  to 
see  It  till  some  weeks  after  our  return  to  London. 

Our  father  had  for  several  years  been  craving  a 
change  of  residence.  He  was  weary  of  looking  at 
bricks  and  mortar,  and  feeling  it  difficult  to  refuse 
the  many  applications  for  work  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  London  during  the  winter  months,  belonged 
for  the  quiet  of  the  country,  or  more  still  a  seaside 
retreat.  Nothing  suitable,  however,  was  found  by 
the  sea,  and  Park  Cottage  seemed  just  the  kind  of 
home  he  desired.  Thither  we  went  in  November, 
first  paying  a  visit  to  Swansea  for  meetings  there. 
On  arriving  at  Leigh  a  very  warm  welcome  awaited 
him  from  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Samuel  Morley,  whose 
tenant  he  had  become,  and  their  thoughtful  atten- 
tion never  wavered  from  that  day  until  he  passed  to 
the  heavenly  home. 

The  winter  was  bitterly  cold.  The  morning  after 
the  first  heavy  fall  of  snow  his  delight  was  great. 
He  stood  gazing  out  of  the  window  upon  the  beauti- 
ful white  covering  which  made  trees  and  shrubs  all 
look  like  fairyland.  It  was  an  old-fashioned  winter, 
and  reminded  him  of  the  days  of  his  youth,  for  even 
in  England  he  had  not  seen  snow  in  the  country 
more  than  once  or  twice.  But  when  it  lay  for  a 
month  his  enthusiasm  vanished,  and  he  longed  to 
see  the  green  grass  again,  and  to  feel  the  sun's  rays. 
He  longed,  too,  to  be  at  work  In  the  garden,  and 
so  watched  for  the  spring.  He  was  quite  in  his 
element  when  he  was  able  to  go  out  and  guide  the 


DELIGHT  IN   COUNTRY  LIFE.  409 

gardener.  He  seemed  to  (eel  more  at  home  in  his 
own  house  than  he  had  ever  done  since  he  had  come 
to  Enorland.  The  villacje  Hfe  and  all  his  surround- 
ings  seemed  so  much  more  natural  to  him.  Of 
course  some  privileges  were  missed,  but  others  made 
up  for  their  loss.  He  attended  regularly  the  little 
village  chapel,  always  in  the  morning  and  often  in 
the  afternoon,  and  was  always  glad  to  help  in  the 
services.  Some  friends  remonstrated  with  him,  when 
leaving  London,  upon  going  to  bury  himself  down 
in  the  country  ;  but  when  they  saw  him  after  a  few 
months,  especially  in  his  own  house,  they  had  not  a 
word  to  say. 

One  of  the  first  of  these  visitors  was  Baldwin 
Brown.  It  was  a  flying  visit,  but  a  very  welcome 
one  to  all  at  Park  Cottage.  Several  friends  from 
South  Africa  also  visited  him  at  Leigh,  among  them 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Coillard  of  the  Basuto  Mission.  Mr. 
C.  on  entering  the  study,  from  the  window  of  which 
he  looked  into  the  garden,  exclaimed,  "  Why  you 
have  got  back  to  Kuruman  here ! "  A  door  from 
the  study  led  out  to  the  garden.  He  would  be  in 
and  out  all  day.  There  was  always  fresh  enjoyment 
to  him  in  showing  his  friends  the  progress  of  his 
plans  and  the  growth  or  improvement  of  certain 
plants.  Then  he  was  so  pleased  to  show  his  visitors 
Mr.  Morley's  beautiful  grounds,  upon  the  charms  of 
which  he  would  stand  and  expatiate  with  all  the  zest 
of  a  connoisseur. 

Of  course  there  were  gloomy  days  when  he  could 
not  venture  out.  On  these  he  often  took  refuge  in 
some  Sechwana  work,  and  felt  that  always  the  best 
means   of  forgetting  the  weather.     The  thoughtful 


410    RETROCESSION  OF  THE  TRANSVAAL. 

sociability  of  his  neighbours  in  the  village  did  much 
to  render  the  years  at  Leigh  happy,  and  one  or  two, 
particularly,  made  a  point  of  dropping  in  on  dull 
days,  diverting  him  by  their  cheerfulness  from  all 
thought  of  the  sombre  skies  of  old  England,  and 
making  him  talk  of  the  sunny  land  to  which  his 
heart  was  always  ready  to  turn.  He  read  a  great 
deal,  particularly  newspapers,  and  in  the  evenings 
always  read  aloud  any  scraps  which  interested  him. 

He  was  intensely  interested  and  excited  during 
the  Transvaal  War.  It  never  entered  his  head  that 
England  would  give  back  the  Transvaal  to  the 
Boers.  To  the  very  last  he  allowed  himself  to 
believe  that  it  would  continue  under  the  government 
of  England,  and  thus  the  natives  be  protected.  I 
remember  well  coming  into  his  room  the  morning 
the  news  of  the  retrocession  was  published.  He  sat 
in  his  armchair  the  picture  of  sadness,  his  hands 
clasped,  and  the  paper  thrown  down  by  his  side. 
"  They  have  done  it,"  he  said.  "  The  Transvaal  is 
given  back !  "  For  days  he  was  as  though  he  had 
received  a  death  blow,  nor  to  his  dying  hour  did  it 
cease  to  be  to  him  a  bitter  sorrow. 

We  were  seldom  alone,  often  having  a  friend  to 
stay  with  us,  as  had  been  the  case  as  long  as  he  had 
had  a  home  in  England.  The  holidays  found  him 
surrounded  by  some  of  his  numerous  grandchildren. 
During  the  first  year  of  his  residence  at  Leigh  he 
had  a  visit  from  the  widow  and  children  of  Robert, 
his  elder  son,  from  Natal,  where  they  have  long 
hved.  His  comparative  retirement  did  not  by  any 
means  end  his  public  work.  He  still  travelled  both 
for  the  Bible  and  Missionary  Societies. 


VISIT  TO  SOUTH  BANTASKINE.  411 

In  May,  1881,  he  was  at  the  Mansion  House,  the 
guest  of  the  Lord  Mayor,  Sir  WilHain  McArthur, 
for  several  days,  and  rather  enjoyed  sleeping  in  the 
middle  of  the  city,  and  waking  up  on  the  Sunday 
morning  to  its  marvellous  stillness.  He  attended 
the  usual  May  meetings  this  year;  and  in  June,  in 
fulfilment  of  a  long-standing  promise,  went  down  to 
Kendal  for  the  Bible  Society.  It  was  a  week  of 
hard  work,  as  he  made  long  speeches  at  Kendal, 
Grasmere,  and  Ambleside.  All  that  could  be  done 
was  done  to  make  him  comfortable  by  his  old  friends 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Charles  Braithwaite. 

From  Kendal  he  went  on  to  Falkirk,  there  to  preach 
at  the  opening  services  of  Carron  United  Presby- 
terian Church,  close  to  the  home  of  his  boyhood.  His 
host  here  was,  as  usual,  John  Wilson,  and  after  the 
excitement  of  the  London  May  meetings  and  those 
at  Kendal,  winding  up  with  the  service  at  Carron 
which  drew  so  largely  upon  his  feelings,  he  found 
South  Bantaskine  once  again  a  haven  of  rest,  and 
recruited  as  usual  there.  It  was  on  this  visit,  I 
think,  he  talked  for  an  hour  to  a  large  number  of 
Sunday  scholars  on  the  lawn,  most  of  them  belong- 
ing to  an  evening  school  carried  on  by  one  of  the 
daughters  of  the  house.  After  another  visit  to  the 
Kidstons  he  returned  to  the  house  of  one  of  his  grand- 
daughters in  Edinburgh,  Agnes  Bruce.  While  there 
he  addressed,  one  Sunday  evening  at  a  valedictory 
service  in  the  United  Presbyterian  Assembly  Hall, 
nine  young  men  leaving  the  Livingstone  Medical 
Mission  for  all  parts  of  the  world,  and  belonging  to 
all  sections  of  the  Church. 

He  greatly  enjoyed  seeing  all  his  old  friends  once 


412  REPRESENTATIVE  MEETING 

more,  not  knowing,  yet  always  ready  to  think  it  was 
the  last  time.  His  only  remaining  cousin,  Mrs. 
Moodie,  who  is  quite  blind,  referring  to  that  visit 
three  years  afterwards  said,  "  I  mind  how  he  said,  '  I 
have  come  straight  to  you,  the  first  call  I  have  made 
in  Edinburgh,' "  and  it  pleased  her  well.  Before  re- 
turning to  England  he  again  went  for  a  few  days  to 
Bantaskine.  There  Mr.  Wilson  gathered  a  repre- 
sentative assembly  from  different  parts  of  Scotland 
to  meet  him  at  a  breakfast  in  his  own  house. 

The  following  report  of  this  meeting  appeared  in 
the  periodicals  of  the  day  : 

"  On  Tuesday  a  gathering  took  place  at  South  Bantaskine 
of  a  deeply  interesting  character.  Dr.  Moffat,  who  is  at 
present  on  a  visit  to  his  native  district  of  Carronshore,  is 
the  guest  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wilson.  On  their  invitation  a 
large  number  of  representatives  of  different  churches  as- 
sembled to  do  honour  to  the  veteran  missionary.  After 
luncheon,  Dr.  Lindsay  Alexander  introduced  Dr.  Moffat, 
who  spoke  on  his  African  experiences  and  of  the  work  he 
had  been  able  to  accomplish  for  the  Hottentots  and  the 
Bechwanas.  Several  gentlemen  testified  to  the  esteem  in 
which  Dr.  Moffat  is  held  by  all  the  churches  ;  and  the  fol- 
lowing address  was  drawn  up  and  signed  by  the  under- 
mentioned gentlemen,  who  were  guests  on  the  occasion : — 
"  We,  the  undersigned  members  of  various  religious  de- 
nominations, having,  through  the  great  kindness  of  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  John  Wilson,  of  South  Bantaskine,  been  invited 
to  meet  the  Rev^  Dr.  Moffat  in  a  friendly  manner  at  their 
house,  desire  to  express  our  kindest  Christian  sympathy 
towards  the  venerable  missionary  who  has  so  long  laboured 
in  the  high  places  of  the  heathen  field,  and  who  has  been 
honoured  to  accomplish  so  great  a  work  in  the  moral  and 
spiritual  elevation  of  the  long-neglected  tribes  of  South 
Africa,  and  our  great  delight  at  seeing  him  in  the  midst  of 
us  in  the  enjoyment  of  vigorous  health  ;  and  our  earnest 


OF  SCOTTISH  FRIENDS.  413 

prayer  is  that  the  close  of  his  long  and  useful  life  may  be 
crowned  yet  more  abundantly  with  the  blessing  and  favour 
of  his  Divine  Master.'  Sir  Peter  Coats  of  Auchendrane  ; 
Rev.  John  Ker,  D.D.,  W.  H.  Goold,  D.D.,  William  Wilson, 
D.D.,  Sir  H.  Wellwood  Moncrieff,  Bart.,  D.D.,  W.  Lindsay 
Alexander,  D.D.,  Professor  Duff,  LL.D.,  Rev.  D.  C.  Scott, 
J.  R.  Kidston,  Esq.,  Glasgow  ;  Rev.  R.  S.  Scott,  D.D.,  Rev. 
James  Rennie,  Glasgow  ;  James  King,  Esq.,  Levernholme  ; 
Professor  Dickson,  D.D.,  Glasgow;  Rev.  Charles  R.  Teape, 
D.D.,  Principal  Douglass,  Glasgow  ;  William  Wilson,  Esq., 
Banknock ;  Rev.  James  Brown,  D.D.,  Paisley ;  Robert 
Moffat,  Esq.,  M.D. ;  Rev.  T.  A.  Wylie,  LL.D.,  Rev.  Hugh 
Mair,  Rev.  Finlay  Macpherson,  Sheriff  Bell,  Falkirk  ;  Rev. 
J.  Elder  Gumming,  D.D.,  Rev.  J.  C.  Herdman,  D.D.,  Mel- 
rose ;  Rev.  John  M'Laren,  Larbert  ;  Rev.  John  Anderson, 
Falkirk  ;  Principal  Cairns,  D.D.  ;  Professor  Crum  Brown, 
Edinburgh  ;  J.  A.  Henderson,  Esq.,  banker,  Falkirk  ;  Rev. 
John  Yellovvlees,  Carron  ;  Alexander  L.  Bruce,  Esq.  ;  W. 
Leckie,  Esq.,  Edinburgh ;  Rev.  George  Wade,  Falkirk  ; 
and  W.  Macdougall,  Esq.  Letters  of  apology  for  absence 
were  received,  among  others,  from  Principal  Sir  Alex.  Grant, 
Bart.;  Sir  James  Falshaw,  Bart.;  Principal  Rainy,  Professor 
Calderwood,  Dr.  Charteris,  Dr.  Culross,  and  Rev.  Mr. 
Brooke,  Falkirk.  It  is  interesting  to  state  that  there  were 
also  present  Mrs.  Bruce,  daughter  of  Dr.  Livingstone,  with 
her  husband,  and  the  Rev.  David  C.  Scott,  who  is  about  to 
proceed  to  Africa  to  take  charge  of  the  Blantyre  Mission, 
and  for  which  purpose  he  was  ordained  yesterday  in 
Edinburgh." 

It  was  a  happy  day  for  all  concerned.  Several 
remained  the  night,  and  it  was  a  rich  treat  to  him 
to  enjoy  a  little  more  at  leisure  the  society  of  such 
choice  spirits.  Among  the  guests  at  breakfast  the 
Dr.  Scott  above  mentioned  left  Mr.  Wilson's  house 
to  go  to  his  own  wedding.  Within  two  years  at 
least  five  of  that  company  had  gone  to  the  better 
land,  including  the  large-hearted  host  as  well  as  the 


414  MEETINGS  AT  MANCHESTER. 

central  figure  of  the  gathering.  The  first  to  depart 
was  Ex-Provost  Russell,  brother-in-law  of  Mr. 
Wilson,  whose  hearty  welcome  to  Falkirk  our 
father  never  missed.  W.  Lindsay  Alexander,  another 
of  the  party,  has  also  gone  from  us. 

One  more  peaceful  day  after  all  the  pleasurable 
excitement,  and  our  father  started  southward,  un- 
consciously bidding  farewell  for  ever  to  the  scenes 
of  his  boyhood.  John  Wilson  and  he,  however, 
met  once  more  ;  the  former  being  on  deputation 
from  the  United  Presbyterian  Synod  to  the  Pres- 
byterian Church  in  Paris,  called  at  Leigh  on  his 
way,  and  the  friends  spent  a  happy  Sunday  together. 
Delightfully  interesting  as  this  visit  to  Scotland  had 
been,  he  was  glad  to  get  home ;  but  he  was  soon 
earnestly  entreated  by  his  Manchester  friends  to  go 
to  the  Congregational  Union  meetings  in  that  city, 
to  address  the  missionary  meeting,  and  especially 
to  preach  in  Grosvenor  Street  Chapel.  He  could 
seldom  resist  Manchester,  and  the  weather  being 
uncommonly  fine  for  the  time  of  year,  he  went  and 
took  up  his  abode  at  Broughton  with  Mrs.  J.  J. 
Sheldon,  senior.  He  attended  the  evening  meeting 
at  the  Free  Trade  Hall.  The  sight  of  the  whole 
assembly  rising  as  he  appeared  on  the  platform  was 
overpowering.  He  always  felt  that  in  Manchester 
there  was  a  deeper  feeling  in  many  hearts  when 
they  rendered  that  reverence  than  often  dictated 
such  demonstrations.  It  dated  back  nearly  seventy 
years  when  our  mother  and  he  there  consecrated 
themselves  to  the  work  to  which  they  were  so 
truly  faithful  even  unto  death.  The  most  inte- 
resting service  was  the  one  at  Grosvenor   Street, 


INTERVIEW   WITH   KETSHWAYO,        415 

where  sixty-five  years  before  he  had  been  ordained 
to  mission  work  by  William  Roby.  He  looked  round, 
and  recalled  where  one  and  another  had  sat — ail- 
now  passed  away  except  those  who  then  were  chil- 
dren ;  and  where  he  himself  had  sat  and  had 
received  the  solemn  charge.  The  meetings  over, 
he  went  to  spend  a  week  at  Cheadle  with  Mrs. 
Stephen  Sheldon.  After  resting  there  he  started 
homewards,  and  spent  the  winter  at  Leigh.  In 
March,  1882,  he  visited  at  Knockholt  his  daughter 
Helen,  who  was  on  the  eve  of  sailing  on  a  sorrow- 
ful mission  to  New  Zealand  ;  and  he  then  entered 
on  another  series  of  engagements  of  a  public  nature. 
On  one  occasion  he  attended  a  Salvation  Army 
meeting  in  Exeter  Hall.  He  was  much  interested 
and  impressed  by  the  earnest  tones  of  those  who 
took  an  active  part,  but  could  not  get  over  the  ir- 
reverence of  manner.  In  the  evening  of  the  same 
day,  Mr.  Evan  Spicer,  whose  house  was  his  home 
when  he  slept  a  night  in  London,  took  him  to  the 
Electric  Exhibition  at  the  Crystal  Palace,  to  his 
great  delight.  June  and  July  were  spent  in  visits 
to  some  of  the  many  friends  whose  doors  were 
always  wide  to  receive  him.  Ketshwayo  was  at 
this  time  in  England.  Our  father's  sympathies 
were  all  with  him,  and  he  went  to  see  him.  As 
he  could  not  speak  Zulu,  he  had  to  be  content 
with  interpretation ;  but  Mr.  Shepstone  brought 
to  him  an  attendant,  saying,  "  This  man  can  speak 
Sechwana." 

It  was  such  an  unloosing  of  his  tongue  as  he  had 
not  had  for  many  years,  and  the  man's  delight  was 
beyond  bounds.     He  had  been  in  the  train  of  a  son 


4i6        VISIT  TO  LANCASHIRE  FRIENDS. 

of  Mosilikatse  during  his  exile  in  Zululand.  He 
had  heard  of  our  father,  but  never  expected  to  see 
him,  and  seemed  hardly  able  to  believe  it.  He 
asked  again  and  again,  "A  u  Moshete?"  (Are  you 
Moffat  ?)  When  convinced,  he  exclaimed  with 
beaming  eyes,  "  I  see  this  day  what  my  eyes  never 
expected  to  behold,  Moshete  1 " 

Two  days  after  this  episode  we  again  started  for 
Lancashire  to  visit  the  Reyners  and  Cheethams ; 
but  our  visit  was  much  saddened  by  the  blanks  in 
homes  where  all  had  been  old  friends.  He  much 
enjoyed  going  over  the  past  with  Mr.  Cheetham, 
and  visited  with  Miss  Cheetham  the  house  at 
Dukinfield,  sitting  down  in  the  very  room  in  which 
he  first  saw  our  mother.  But  there  was  an  intense 
pathos  about  it  all — so  many  were  gone  ;  and 
pleasant  as  it  was  to  see  their  children  and  chil- 
dren's children,  he  still  felt  the  want  of  the  absent 
ones.  A  week  spent  with  Miss  Sheldon  at  Cheadle, 
where  death  had  taken  away  our  dear  old  hostess 
since  our  visit  the  previous  year,  completed  his  last 
sojourn  in  Manchester.  He  found  that  even  very 
moderate  public  speaking  this  year  made  him  dizzy, 
and  he  therefore  declined  nearly  all  requests.  Re- 
turning to  Leigh  we  settled  down  for  the  winter, 
during  which  he  enjoyed  good  health ;  but  as  Janu- 
ary wore  on,  debarred  from  air  and  exercise,  he 
was  feeling  weak,  and  craved  a  change,  so  we  went 
for  a  fortnight  to  Brighton. 

For  the  next  two  months  he  was  remarkably 
well — quite  extraordinarily  bright  and  active.  He 
made  a  short  visit  to  London  in  March,  and  slept 
the  last  night  in  his  first  Brixton  home,  the  house 


FAILING   STRENGTH.  417 

of  Henry  Vavasseur.  For  two  months  he  took 
special  interest  in  his  garden,  planting  many  things 
with  his  own  hands.  In  April,  according  to  pro- 
mise, he  went  to  Hampstead  to  lay  the  foundation- 
stone  of  a  new  church.  He  enjoyed  the  occasion, 
but  complained  of  great  weariness  and  intermittent 
pulsation.  This  now  troubled  him  so  constantly 
that  he  at  last  sought  advice  two  months  later. 
Nevertheless,  he  was  otherwise  wonderfully  well 
and  bright  for  a  month,  up  at  six  in  the  morning  as 
often  as  not,  and  out  at  work  in  the  garden.  He 
attended  the  Bible  Society's  meeting  on  the  second 
of  May,  but  returned  very  tired.  The  irregularity  of 
the  pulsation  increasing,  his  symptoms  during  the 
ensuing  week  caused  some  anxiety  ;  but  he  would 
not  be  dissuaded  from  going  up  again  to  the  So- 
ciety's meeting  on  the  tenth.  "  It  may  be  the  last 
time,"  he  said.  On  Friday  he  did  not  seem  more 
tired  than  usual  after  such  a  meeting ;  but  that 
night  he  was  very  ill.  From  the  twelfth  of  May 
he  never  fully  rallied,  although  often  so  bright  and 
well  as  to  dispel  our  fears. 

He  was  greatly  cheered  In  May  by  a  visit  from 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  James  Spicer,  of  Woodford.  Mr. 
Spicer  and  his  sons  had  served  him  unweariedly  in 
many  ways  during  all  the  years  after  his  return  from 
Africa — managing  business  matters  for  him,  and 
taking  off  his  mind  concerns  which  would  otherwise 
have  been  a  sad  care  to  him. 

On  Monday,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Morley  being  at  Hall 
Place  for  a  day  or  two,  asked  him  up  to  tea.  After 
tea,  Mrs.  Morley  and  he  walked  round  the  gardens 
and  hot-houses.     He  had  gone  up  just  to  see  the 

28 


4i8     LAST  MEETING  WITH  THE  STURGES. 

Morleys  for  half  an  hour,  but  fully  two  hours  they 
spent  together,  and  it  was  the  last  walk  he  ever  had 
round  the  grounds.  Then  he  went  to  Knockholt, 
and  we  hoped  for  the  usual  effects  of  a  change  of 
air  ;  but,  alas  !  we  felt  that  he  was  no  stronger  when 
he  returned  home.  He  was  at  last  persuaded  to 
see  his  friend  Sir  Risdon  Bennett,  who,  with  his 
usual  kindness,  gave  him  advice,  and  tried  to  cheer 
him,  but  at  the  same  time  confirmed  the  worst  fears 
of  those  who  were  anxiously  watching,  and  dread- 
ing that  this  was  the  beginning  of  the  end.  So 
wonderfully,  however,  did  he  rally  under  Dr.  Ben- 
nett's treatment,  that  we  could  not  help  hoping  that 
there  was  a  mistake. 

He  was  so  much  better,  that  early  in  July  he 
again  paid  a  visit  to  Knockholt.  His  daughter  there 
iiad  invited  two  dear  friends,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  George 
Sturge,  to  spend  a  day,  that  they  might  all  meet 
.again  without  over-fatigue  to  either.  They  walked 
itogether  round  the  garden  in  pleasant  converse  ; 
the  afternoon  passed,  and  they  parted — two  of  the 
Tiumber  to  meet  again  within  one  month  in  heaven. 
Mrs.  Sturge  departed  on  the  twenty-ninth  of  July, 
and  our  father  on  the  ninth  of  August.  He  returned 
ihome  brightly,  but  in  a  few  days  began  to  suffer  still 
more.  Yet  with  all  this  he  was  in  and  out  of  the 
garden,  and  took  two  drives,  Mrs.  Morley  sending 
.her  carriage  whenever  he  felt  able.  After  the  second 
drive,  on  the  fourth  of  August,  he  took  half  an 
.hour's  walk  ;  and  every  evening  he  strolled  round 
"the  garden,  noticing  how  things  were  going  on. 
One  evening  he  remarked  upon  the  beautiful  crop 
•of  apples  not  yet  ready  for  use,  and  said,  "  We  must 


LETTER    TO   MR.   DICKSON.  419 

not  forget  to  send  Mr.  Stacey  some  of  these."  Mr. 
Stacey,  the  devoted  servant  of  the  Society  and  faith- 
ful friend  of  all  the  missionaries,  had  long  been  laid 
aside  with  paralysis. 

To  his  friend  Mr.  Dickson,  of  Edinburgh,  he 
vi^rote  about  three  weeks  before  his  departure  : 

"  I  have  for  some  time  been  experiencing  a  weanedness 
from  all  that  concerns  this  life,  and  feel  a  growing  desire 
to  spend  my  future  in  praise  and  prayer.  Of  course  it  is 
natural  that  one  at  my  age  should  be  frequently  looking 
at  the  '  goodly  land  '  beyond  the  *  narrow  stream.'  The 
prospect  is  sublimely  grand,  for  there 

*  Our  best  friends  and  our  kindred  dwell, 
And  Christ  our  Saviour  reigns.' 

I  have  oft  felt  much  pressed  in  mind  from  the  reported 
sufferings  of  the  Bechwanas,  robbed  and  trodden  down 
by  the  Transvaal  Boers  ;  and  now  our  Senators  have  got 
their  hands  full  of  perplexities.  How  sad  it  is  to  reflect 
on  the  present  state  of  Madagascar !  What  a  comfort, 
among  all  these  dark  and  ominous  prospects,  that  our  Father 
in  heaven  surveys  it  all,  and  in  due  time  will  show  who  is 
the  only  potentate.  When  we  think  of  the  glories  of 
eternity,  how  small  the  mites  of  power  in  this  world  are. 
Love  to  your  dear  sons,  and  believe  me  ever  gratefully, 

"  Robert  Moffat." 

The  following  was  one  of  the  last  letters  he  wrote. 
It  shows  that  to  the  last  his  heart  beat  in  unison  with 
the  interests  of  the  Society,  to  the  service  of  which 
he  gave  himself  in  1810,  and  whose  faithful  servant 
he  was  for  fifty-seven  years  : 

«'  yuly  23,  1883. 

"  My  dear  Mr.  Robinson, — Only  a  few  lines  to  say 
that  but  for  an  attack  of  illness  I  should  probably  during 
the  five  weeks  past  have  visited  the  Mission-house  once 
and  again.     I  have  been  laid  up,  though  not  in  bed  ;  and 


420  THE   LAST  SUNDAY. 

though  I  still  feel  great  weakness,  I  think  I  am  gaining 
strength.  I  have  suffered  great  weakness  in  my  lungs,  so 
that  the  least  exercise  made  me  puff  and  blow  as  if  they 
were  going  to  stop  altogether.  I  mustered  energy  to  visit 
my  old  friend  Sir  Risdon  Bennett,  and  am  attending  to 
his  prescriptions.  If  it  be  the  Lord's  will  to  restore 
strength,  I  shall  not  fail  to  call,  longing  as  I  do  to  see 
you  all  again.  But  such  is  life ;  prop  after  prop  is  being 
removed,  but  nothing  will  be  suffered  to  remove  the 
'  blessed  hope '  of  reaching  the  blissful  shore  beyond  the 
narrow  stream.  I  have  managed  to  write  a  couple  of 
letters  to  friends  who  may  be  wondering  what  has  become 
of  me,  and  I  feel  fatigued.  Some  seem  to  suppose  that  I 
do  not  get  old  like  other  folks,  as  applications  still  come 
in  for  services  at  public  meetings.  My  platform  and  pulpit 
days  are  over,  and  I  have  had  a  tolerable  share.  I  hope 
you  are  still  receiving  good  accounts  from  Wardlaw 
Thompson.  What  a  noble  tale  he  will  be  able  to  tell  us 
on  his  return  !     With  every  sentiment  of  regard,  yours, 

"  Robert  Moffat." 

On  the  thirtieth  of  July  Dr.  Risdon  Bennett 
kindly  came  down  to  see  him.  His  visit  was  a 
great  comfort,  and  did  good  for  the  time  ;  but  the 
sun  was  rapidly  nearing  the  western  horizon,  and 
nothing  could  stay  its  course. 

Our  father  enjoyed  seeing  his  friends  as  they 
looked  in  now  and  then,  but  could  not  bear  much 
company,  though  he  brightened  up  for  the  time. 
On  Sunday  the  fifth  he  would  fain  hivegc>n2  as 
usual  to  the  chapel,  but  was  dissuaded — the  first 
time  I  ever  remember  his  being  absent  from  morn- 
ing service.  He  spent  a  peaceful  Sunday  at  home. 
In  the  evening  he  enjoyed  the  singing  of  a  few 
hymns,  after  our  usual  stroll  round  the  garden.  He 
could  not  join  in  the  singing,  but  chose  the  hymns 


THE   LAND   OF  BBULAH.  421 

— "  The  sands  of  time  are  sinking,"  as  it  is  in  the 
Presbyterian  Hymnal,  and  he  seemed  to  enjoy  it 
pecuHarly ;  also,  "  Come,  Thou  Fount  of  every 
blessing,"  "  How  sweet  the  name  of  Jesus  sounds." 
"At  even  when  the  sun  was  set,"  and  "  Nearer  my 
God  to  Thee."  He  was  very  fond  of  hymns,  and 
at  home,  even  when  quite  well,  it  was  his  habit 
when  most  of  the  household  had  gone  to  bed,  and 
he  smoked  his  pipe  before  going  himself,  to  repeat 
hymn  after  hymn.  He  had  learned  several  by 
heart  quite  lately,  among  them,  "  Abide  with  me," 
and  "  I  long  to  hear  the  story."  He  was  struck 
with  the  latter  when  he  heard  it  was  the  last  hymn 
his  friend  Mr.  Wilson  sang  before  his  death,  and 
he  committed  it  to  memory  during  the  last  three 
months  of  his  life.  His  New  Testament  (in  large 
type),  a  copy  sent  out  to  him  and  our  mother 
years  ago  by  Miss  Anna  Mary  Braithwaite,  was  his 
constant  companion  during  those  last  weeks,  and 
he  seemed  to  live  with  the  Apostle  John.  Even  at 
family  worship  he  was  in  the  course  of  reading 
John  over  a  second  time  when  he  passed  away. 
In  fact  those  who  were  with  him  during  the  last 
months  were  all  struck  with  the  way  in  which  his 
thoughts  turned  ever  upward.  It  mattered  not  what 
was  the  topic  of  conversation,  and  however  heartily 
he  entered  into  it,  somehow  or  other  it  always 
turned  to  heaven  and  the  Saviour. 

On  Monday,  August  the  sixth,  he  seemed  markedly 
better,  and  very  much  enjoyed  visits  from  Miss  Unwin, 
of  Walthamstow  Hall,  a  dear  friend,  and  his  son-in- 
law  James  Vavasseur.  He  heard  also  of  the  return 
of  a  grandson  and  granddaughter  from  South  Africa 


422  THOUGHTS   ABOUT  AFRICA. 

whither  they  had  been  on  a  visit,  and  he  looked  for- 
ward to  seeing  them  on  the  morrow  with  great  joy. 
He  was  very  bright  on  the  Tuesday,  was  down  early, 
walking  in  the  garden  before  breakfast.  When  his 
grandchildren  came  he  listened  eagerly  to  the  tale 
they  had  to  tell  of  old  friends  and  old  places  in  "  his 
own  loved  country."  On  the  Monday  morning 
when  we  came  down  he  had  been  reading  the  Daily 
News  as  usual,  and  threw  it  down  sadly,  saying, 
"Oh,  there  is  nothing  about  Africa  ;  they  are  just 
letting  it  drop."  When  reminded  that  there  was  to 
be  a  discussion  that  night  in  Parliament,  he  brigh- 
tened a  little,  and  read  the  next  day  with  great  in- 
terest Mr.  Forster's  speech,  which  gratified  him  much. 
On  Tuesday  evening,  after  his  grandchildren  had 
left,  he  took  his  usual  walk  round  the  garden,  and 
seemed  wonderfully  better  and  very  happy.  At  ten 
o'clock  he  went  upstairs,  and  then  it  was  that  a  great 
fear  took  possession  of  me,  for  I  heard  him  praying 
upstairs  so  fervently,  in  such  a  quavering  voice — 
not  as  usual,  quietly  with  the  door  shut — that  I  felt 
sure  he  was  worse,  and  hastened  up.  He  had  a  night 
of  pain  and  sleeplessness,  and  rose  on  Wednesday 
very  weary  and  low.  Yet  he  was  out  several  times 
directing  the  gardener,  though  the  weather  was 
drizzling  and  dull,  and  once  he  went  out  with  the 
garden  scissors,  leaning  on  his  umbrella,  and  clipped 
some  twigs  of  a  hawthorn,  the  which  overhung  the 
path.  While  he  was  doing  this  a  neighbour  called, 
and  I  was  glad  of  the  excuse  to  call  him  in,  for  he 
was  evidently  feeling  so  weak.  Mrs.  Heath  said, 
"  Why  do  you  exert  yourself  so,  when  it  could  be 
done  for  you  ?  "     *'  Ah  !  "  he  answered,  "  I  like  to 


THE   END   DRAWS   NEAR.  423 

feel  that  I  can  still  do  It."  He  looked  very  ill  that 
day,  but  otherwise  did  not  seem  worse  than  he  had 
been  several  times  before,  or  so  bad  as  when  we  had 
sent  up  for  Dr.  Bennett  ten  days  before.  It  was 
holiday  time,  and  there  were  four  of  his  grand- 
children with  us.  At  tea-time,  when  he  had  retired 
to  his  armchair,  he  said,  "  Why  are  you  all  so  quiet  ? 
Talk  away,  for  I  cannot  hear."  I  explained  that 
the  children  were  going  out  to  spend  an  hour  or  two 
with  our  neighbours  the  Towers,  and  had  not  time 
to  talk.  He  was  so  sensitive  about  our  denying 
ourselves  in  any  way  for  him. 

So  little  did  we  look  for  any  immediate  change, 
that  he  and  I  were  left  alone  in  the  house  when  the 
children  went.  We  had  not  even  a  servant  at  hand. 
As  I  sat  beside  him  he  asked  when  his  daughter 
Helen  was  likely  to  come.  I  said  I  thought  pro- 
bably next  day,  as  I  had  written  that  he  was  not  so 
well  again.  I  begged  him  to  let  me  send  for  Dr. 
Fraser,  but  he  said,  "  No,  to-morrow  will  do."  Very 
soon  after  he  was  much  worse,  and  had  a  fainting  fit. 
He  became  very  ill,  and  determined  to  go  upstairs. 
I  begged  him  to  remain  where  he  was  ;  but  he  said, 
"  No,  I  must  go ;  I  feel  I  can,  because  I  will,"  and, 
thank  God,  he  reached  the  top  of  the  stairs  without 
falling.  He  remained  on  the  bedside  and  rested 
awhile,  propped  up  with  pillows,  until  he  felt  able  to 
undress,  which  he  did,  with  but  little  assistance,  as 
collectedly  and  deliberately  as  possible,  even  wind- 
ing up  his  watch  with  a  cold,  trembling  hand — "  for 
the  last  time,"  he  said. 

By  this  time  the  children  had  returned,  and  Roger 
Price  went  for  a  doctor,  and  help  speedily  poured  in. 


424  THE   KINDNESS  OF  FRIENDS. 

Our  kind  neighbours  were  all  ready.  Mr.  Morley 
instantly  sent  off  a  carriage  to  Knockholt  for  Mrs. 
Vavasseur  —  Mr.  Towers,  a  clergyman  who  lived 
close  to  us,  going  all  the  way  to  bring  her.  The 
doctor  came  in  a  few  minutes  after  being  summoned. 
He  said  that  my  father  had  broken  a  blood  vessel. 
He  was  glad  to  see  the  doctor,  and  told  him  just 
how  he  felt.  Our  father  slept  beautifully  most  of 
the  time  till  between  three  and  four  o'clock.  Mrs. 
Towers  remained  with  us  until  Helen  arrived.  He 
received  her  thankfully  and  calmly,  folding  her  in 
his  arms  and  asking  how  she  came.  He  was  full  of 
thankfulness  to  Mr.  Morley  and  Mr.  Towers.  From 
this  time  he  continued  to  sleep,  waking  at  intervals, 
and  was  much  inclined  to  talk  when  awake. 

He  was  just  full  of  his  Saviour's  love  and  mercy 
all  through  his  life  ;  he  repeated  many  hymns  and 
passages  of  Scripture.  About  eleven  in  the  fore- 
noon of  Thursday,  he  tried  to  get  out  of  bed,  but 
fell  back  in  a  fainting  fit  and  was  caught  by  my 
sister.  We  feared  that  it  was  the  end,  but  he 
revived.  Dr.  Fraser  was  at  hand  at  once,  and  also 
l\ir.  Maxted,  the  superintendent  at  the  village 
chapel,  whom  he  had  wished  to  see.  Mr.  Maxted's 
ministrations  were  very  acceptable,  and  he  responded 
most  heartily,  dwelling  on  Christ  as  the  only  stay 
and  help.  He  referred  to  our  mother's  peaceful 
departure,  and  to  the  question  of  recognition  in 
heaven. 

He  was  very  pleased  to  have  a  visit  from  Mr. 
Morley,  whom  he  truly  loved  (and  also  Mr.  Henry 
Morley).  and  thanked  him  so  warmly  for  sparing 
time  from  his  many  engagements.     He  talked  with 


FAREWELLS.  425 

wonderful  vigour  of  the  mysteriousness  of  Provi- 
dence, and  was  evidently  clinging  to  the  hope  of  the 
restitution  of  all  things,  but  wound  up  with  the 
words,  "It  is  all  a  mystery.  Will  not  the  Judge  of 
all  the  earth  do  right  ?  " 

A  dear  friend  who  was  to  have  spent  the  day 
with  us,  and  had  missed  our  telegram,  came.  He 
knew  her,  and  was  very  glad  to  see  her.  Several 
grandchildren  had  come  to  see  him,  and  he  bade 
them  a  loving  good-bye,  kissing  them  and  giving 
them  his  blessing.  Mr.  Towers  came  in  and  offered 
a  few  words  of  prayer,  beautiful  and  appropriate. 
This  was  the  last  visitor  he  saw.  Mr.  Edward 
Jones  had  come  from  the  Mission  House,  but  we 
feared  the  flood  of  association  and  excitement  his 
presence  would  have  caused,  and  our  father  did  not 
see  him.  He  had  asked  for  his  Testament,  and 
tried  to  read  during  the  day,  but  he  could  not.  We 
read  to  him,  as  he  wished,  portions  of  Scripture.  The 
last  was  the  thirty-fourth  Psalm.  He  repeated  many 
hymns,  among  them  the  Scotch  version  of  the  hun- 
dred and  third  Psalm,  but  stopped  and  said,  "  There 
is  nothing  like  the  original,"  which  we  then  read  to 
him.  One  hymn  he  would  have  us  read  to  him  was, 
"  Hail,  sovereign  Light,"  his  mother's  favourite, 
published  in  very  few  hymn-books  now. 

Just  at  the  last.  Dr.  Harry  Pye  Smith  came.  He 
had  been  deputed  to  take  charge  of  my  father's  case 
by  Dr.  Bennett  when  leaving  town,  and  kindly  came. 
When  I  thanked  him  he  said,  "  I  only  came  because 
it  was  he.  I  knew  quite  well  that  at  his  age  I  could 
do  nothing." 

He  had  another  sleep,  and  when  he  woke  from 


426  THE  PILGRIMAGE  OVER, 

this  it  was  evident  the  end  was  near.  He  signed  to 
us  to  cover  his  poor,  cold  hands,  and  lay,  his  looks 
wandering,  unconsciously  we  think,  from  one  to 
another.  It  seemed  a  hard  struggle  for  that  wonderful 
frame  to  let  the  spirit  go,  and  then  came  the  quiet- 
ness which  was  unmistakable,  leaving  the  beautiful 
face  so  natural.  He  ended  his  pilgrimage  at  half- 
past  seven  on  the  evening  of  Thursday  the  tenth  of 
August,  1883. 


CHAPTER  XXXIX. 

FUNERAL,  AND  NOTICES  OF  THE  PRESS. 


T 


H  E   following  account  of  the  funeral  is  taken 
from  the  columns  of  the  Daily  News  : 

"  Yesterday  afternoon  the  funeral  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Moffat 
took  place  at  Norwood  Cemetery,  the  interment  being 
preceded  by  a  service  in  the  Wesleyan  Chapel  (of  which 
the  Rev.  J.  McTurk  is  the  minister),  situated  opposite 
Tulse  Hill  railway  station— a  very  large  edifice,  which  was 
filled  throughout  with  mourners  and  sympathisers.  The 
friends  of  the  family  met,  as  previously  arranged,  at  the 
house  of  Mr.  Evan  Spicer,  Upper  Lawn,  Tulse  Hill,  whither 
the  body  had  been  conveyed  from  Brixton.  It  had  found 
a  resting-place  the  previous  night  in  the  house  of  Mr. 
Henry  Vavasseur.  The  funeral  procession  left  at  two 
o'clock,  being  joined  by  deputations  from  various  societies, 
and  by  many  other  persons.  The  centre  of  the  chapel  was 
reserved  for  immediate  friends  of  the  deceased  and  the 
deputations,  the  chief  mourners  being  in  front.  At  the 
entrance  of  the  chancel,  where  the  coffin  remained  during 
the  service,  were  three  large  African  palm-trees  and  several 
smaller  ones,  symbolizing,  as  it  were,  the  scene  of  Dr. 
Moffat's  half-a-century's  missionary  labours.  As  the  pro- 
cession entered  the  chapel  the  organ  played  Mendelssohn's 
'  O  rest  in  the  Lord,'  and  the  scene  was  deeply  impressive. 
The  chief  mourners  were  :  Miss  Moffat,  daughter   of  the 


428  THE   FUNERAL. 

deceased  ;  Mr.  Unwin,  sen.,  father-in-law  of  the  Rev.  John 
Moffat,  deceased's  only  son,  now  in  South  Africa  ;  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Vavasseur  (daughter  of  Dr.  Moffat)  ;  Mr,  Oswell 
Livingstone  (son  of  Dr.  Livingstone)  and  Mrs.  Livingstone  ; 
Mrs.  Fredoux  and  her  two  daughters  ;  Mr.  A.  L.  Bruce 
and  Mrs.  Bruce  (daughter  of  Dr.  Livingstone)  and  their 
son,  Master  David  L,  Bruce  ;  and  Mr,  and  Mrs.  Wilson. 
Among  the  other  mourners  were  Mr.  Roger  Price  and  three 
sisters,  Mr.  Vavasseur,  jun.,  and  three  sisters,  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Frank  Wilson,  Mr.  George  Unwin  and  Mr.  Fisher  Unwin. 
There  v.^ere  also  present  Sir  Bartle  Frere,  Sir  Henry  Peek, 
M.P,,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  James  Spicer,  Mr.  Samuel  Morley, 
M.P.,  Sir  W.  McArthur,  M.P.,  the  Rev,  John  Maxted,  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Guest,  the  Rev.  S.  T.  Williams,  Mr.  A.  H.  Cooper, 
Mr.  W.  Dickson  (Edinburgh),  Mr.  W.  Armitage,  Mr.  James 
Spicer,  jun.,  Mr.  VV.  Gage  Spicer.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Evan 
Spicer  and  Miss  Spicer,  Dr.  Frank  Eraser,  the  Rev.  G.  L. 
Towers,  the  Rev.  J.  B.  French,  Mr.  Pye  Smith,  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  MacLaren,  Mr.  Braithwaite,  the  Rev.  W.  Butters,  and 
the  Rev.  James  Calvert.  The  deputations  were  as  follows  : 
London  Missionary  Society — Mr.  A.  Hubbard,  Chairman 
of  the  Board  ;  the  Rev.  Robert  Robinson  and  the  Rev.  E. 
H.  Jones,  secretaries  ;  the  Rev.  Dr.  Kennedy,  the  Rev.  T. 
Gilfillan,  Mr.  Arthur  Marshall,  Mr.  S.  R.  Scott,  and  Mr.  W. 
Lockhart,  directors  ;  the  only  South  African  missionary  of 
the  Society  present  being  the  Rev.  J.  D.  Hepburn,  from 
Shoshong.  Baptist  Missionary  Society  —  The  Rev.  C. 
Rickard,  Mr.  J,  C.  Parry,  Mr.  J.  Templeton.  Congrega- 
tional Union  of  England  and  Wales — Mr.  Henry  Lee, 
M.P.,  the  Rev.  A.  Rowland,  Mr.  Thomas  Walker,  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Hannay.  London  Congregational  Union — Mr.  William 
Holtorn,  Mr.  Walter  Capper,  the  Rev.  J.  Morlais  Jones,  the 
Rev.  Andrew  Mearns.  Church  Missionary  Society — The 
Rev.  Henry  Sutton  and  Mr,  Eugene  Stock,  Religious 
Tract  Society — The  Rev,  W,  Ballantyne  and  Mr.  W. 
Stevens.  English  Presbyterian  Missions  —  Mr.  Hugh 
Matheson  ;  London  Presbytery — the  Rev.  W.  Martin  and 
the  Rev.  A.  Jeffrey.  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society — 
The  Rev.  John   Sharp  and  the  Rev.  C.  E.  B.  Reed  (secre- 


ADDRESS  BY  THE  REV.  J.  C.  HARRISON.  429 

taries),  and  Dr.  Wood,  of  the  Committee.  There  were 
also  other  deputations  from  the  Colonial  Missionary 
Society,  the  United  Kingdom  Band  of  Hope  Union,  and 
the  Hampstead  Congregational  Church,  the  foundation- 
stone  of  the  new  place  of  worship  of  the  last-mentioned 
having  been  laid  by  Dr.  Moffat  only  a  few  weeks  ago.  It 
should  be  added  that  South  Africa  itself  was  represented 
by  Mr.  Hugh  Exton,  Mayor  of  Bloemfontein.  The  service 
in  the  chapel  was  performed  by  the  Rev.  J.  C.  Harrison, 
Congregational  minister,  Camden-town,  and  the  Rev.  Dr. 
McEwan,  Presbyterian  minister,  Clapham.  It  commenced 
with  the  hymn  beginning  '  How  sweet  the  name  of  Jesus 
sounds.'  This  was  followed  by  the  reading  by  Dr.  McEwan 
of  selections  from  the  Holy  Scriptures,  including  part  of 
the  1 5th  chapter  of  the  First  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians,  and 
the  reverend  gentleman  offered  up  an  appropriate  prayer. 
— The  Rev.  J.  C.  Harrison  delivered  an  address,  in  which 
he  took  a  comprehensive  survey  of  the  life,  character,  and 
labours  of  Dr.  Moffat.  After  speaking  of  '  entireness  of 
consecration '  as  one  great  feature  that  marked  his  mis- 
sionary career  and  made  him  'king  amongst  men,'  and  also 
of  the  '  personal  fascination  '  which  produced  such  wonder- 
ful effects  upon  the  heathen,  he  dwelt  upon  Dr.  Moffat's 
'  perfect  disinterestedness,'  illustrated  by  the  fact  that  so 
long  as  he  had  just  enough  to  sustain  him  he  seemed  never 
to  covet  anything  more ;  his  wonderful  catholicity,  which 
made  him  love  all  good  men  and  rejoice  in  every  good  and 
great  work,  there  being  no  littleness  or  bitterness  seen  in 
him,  though  he  had  indomitable  firmness  when  the  gospel 
was  in  question  ;  his  guileless  simplicity,  combined  with 
abundant  shrewdness  and  a  great  deal  of  mother  wit ;  and 
his  astonishing  faith  in  the  power  of  the  gospel — a  faith 
which  gave  wonderful  beauty  and  consistency  to  his  whole 
character.  In  concluding  his  brief  sketch,  the  speaker 
read  a  letter  written  by  the  subject  of  it  only  fourteen  days 
before  his  death,  which  he  characterized  as  '  breathing  the 
old  loyalty  to  the  London  Missionary  Society,'  and  ex- 
pressed an  earnest  hope  that  some  of  the  young  men  who 
were   present    would    endeavour   to  imitate  his    Christian 


430       ADDRESS  BY  REV.  J.  G.  ROGERS. 

heroism  and  be  inspired  by  his  earnest  missionary  spirit. 
The  rev.  gentleman  concluded  the  service  with  the  bene- 
diction. While  the  organ  was  playing  the  '  Dead  March,* 
the  coffin  was  again  carried  to  the  hearse — an  open  one — 
which  was  waiting  outside,  its  destination  being  Norwood 
Cemetery,  and  the  intervening  distance  about  half  a  mile. 
The  number  of  carriages  forming  the  funeral  cortege  and 
conveying  the  family  and  immediate  friends  and  the  depu- 
tations was  about  twenty-five,  besides  which  there  were 
several  private  carriages.  At  the  grave,  which  is  about  a 
hundred  yards  from  the  cemetery  chapel,  there  was  a  very 
large  public  gathering  long  before  the  hour  of  interment, 
and  it  was  with  some  difficulty  that  adequate  space  could 
be  kept  for  the  chief  mourners  and  others  who  arrived  in 
carriages.  In  the  grave  was  seen  the  coffin  of  the  deceased's 
wife — the  figures  '  1871,'  visible  on  the  lid,  indicating  the 
period  of  her  burial.  The  inscription  on  Dr.  Moffat's 
coffin,  which  rests  on  that  of  his  wife,  is  as  follows : 
'Robert  Moffat,  born  21st  of  December,  1795,  died  9th  of 
August,  1883.'  Besides  the  chief  mourners  and  others, 
whose  names  have  been  given  above,  and  who  all  assembled 
round  the  grave,  were  the  Rev.  J.  Gilmore,  vicar  of  Lower 
Norwood,  and  the  Rev.  Mr.  Donovan  and  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Sylvester,  the  Church  and  Nonconformist  chaplains  respec- 
tively of  the  cemetery.  The  final  service  having  opened 
with  the  singing  of  the  hymn  commencing  '  How  blest  the 
righteous  when  he  dies,'  the  Rev.  R.  Robinson  (secretary 
of  the  London  Missionary  Society)  read  part  of  the  Burial 
Service  of  the  Church  of  England.  The  Rev.  J.  G.  Rogers 
delivered  an  address,  in  which  he  pronounced  a  eulogium 
on  the  deceased  similar  to  that  of  Mr.  Harrison  in  the 
chapel,  and  also  on  the  late  Mrs.  Moffat,  whom  he  described 
as  having  sympathized  in  all  Dr.  Moffat's  cares,  and  entered 
into  all  his  hopes,  his  sorrows,  his  vicissitudes,  his  troubles, 
and  his  fears,  and  who,  he  added,  was  a  true-hearted  and 
noble-minded  woman,  a  grand  example  to  the  wives  ot 
missionaries,  as  Robert  Moffat  was  a  grand  example  to 
missionaries  themselves;  so  true,  so  noble,  so  coi..ageous, 
so  heroic,  was  that  great  apostle  of  South  Africa.     The 


COMMENT  OF  "THE   TIMES."  431 

Rev.  Dr.  Kennedy  afterwards  offered  prayer,  and  closed  the 
proceedings  with  the  benediction." 

The  expenses  of  the  funeral  were  undertaken  by 
the  Directors  of  the  London  Missionary  Society, 
who  thus  gracefully  crowned  the  long  period  of 
affectionate  connection  which  had  been  maintained 
with  unbroken  constancy  on  both  sides. 

It  is  difficult  to  select  from  the  many  kind  words 
which  were  spoken  at  the  time,  but  it  would  be  im- 
possible to  do  more  than  to  give  one  or  two  cita- 
tions from  the  columns  of  the  press.  On  the  day 
after  the  funeral  the  following  leader  appeared  in 
T/ie  Times : 

"  Dr.  Robert  Moffat,  who  was  yesterday  laid  in  the  grave, 
has  left  an  abiding  name  as  a  pioneer  of  modern  missionary 
work  in  South  Africa.  He  was  born  in  1795,  a  year 
memorable  as  that  of  the  foundation  of  the  London  Mis- 
sionary Society,  and  in  18 16  he  entered  on  his  career  as 
one  of  the  Society's  missionaries.  His  first  purpose  was 
to  proceed  to  the  South  Seas,  but  his  final  choice  was  the 
vast  and  yet  unexplored  field  of  the  central  region  of 
South  Africa.  His  chief  work  was  among  the  Bechwanas. 
His  picture  of  what  they  were  when  he  first  knew  them 
would  hardly  now  be  recognized,  so  entirely  have  they 
changed  under  the  new  influences  which  Moffat  was  among 
the  first  to  bring  to  bear  upon  them.  He  found  them  mere 
savages,  idol-worshippers,  constantly  at  war  among  them- 
selves and  with  their  neighbours,  ignorant  of  the  arts  of 
agriculture,  and  in  the  utterly  degraded  state  for  which  we 
must  seek  a  counterpart  now  in  the  more  distant  tribes 
whom  the  message  of  civilization  has  not  yet  reached.  It 
was  Moffat's  mission  to  civilize  as  well  as  instruct,  to  free 
those  with  whom  he  was  brought  in  contact  from  the  curse 
under  which  they  seemed  to  lie,  to  raise  them  to  a  higher 
life,  and  so  to  fit  them  to  become  recipients  of  the  sacred 
message  of  good  tidings  which  it  was  his  main   ultimate 


432  EULOGIUM  ON  MISSION  WORK. 

purpose  to  announce.  His  success  within  the  limited  field 
to  which  he  confined  himself — a  field  which  has  been  now 
far  overpassed  by  the  subsequent  labours  of  other  devoted 
men,  most  notably  by  those  of  his  own  son-in-law,  David 
Livingstone — was  very  marked.  His  first  care  was  to  make 
himself  thoroughly  master  of  the  language  of  those  to 
whom  he  was  sent.  For  fifty  years,  he  has  declared,  he  had 
been  accustomed  to  speak  the  Bechwana  tongue ;  he  reduced 
it  to  written  characters,  and,  as  an  agent  of  the  British  and 
Foreign  Bible  Society,  translated  the  Scriptures  into  it. 
The  Bechwanas,  under  Moffat's  guidance,  became  new  men. 
Mission  work  grew  and  spread  among  them  ;  what  Moffat 
had  begun  to  do  was  taken  up  by  other  hands  ;  a  perma- 
nent body  of  native  pastors  was  created  from  among  the 
Bechwanas  themselves,  and  the  whole  region  was  raised  out 
of  the  savage  state  in  which  Moffat  had  found  it,  and  became 
in  no  small  degree  civilized  as  well  as  Christianized.  To 
effect  this  and  to  make  it  possible  for  others  to  effect  it 
was  the  chief  business  of  Moffat's  working  life.  He  went 
out  to  South  Africa  in  1816.  He  left  it  finally  in  1870. 
During  that  long  interval  the  dark  continent  was  attacked 
and  explored  in  all  directions.  Scientific  travellers  and 
missionary  travellers  were  busy  pushing  their  way  into 
regions  to  which  Moffat  had  never  penetrated.  It  is 
Moffat's  honour  to  have  been  among  the  first  in  the  field, 
to  have  laid,  as  it  were,  the  stepping-stones  by  which  his 
successors  have  been  able  to  outstrip  him  ;  to  have  borne 
the  burden  and  heat  of  the  day  in  early  missionary  work, 
and  at  once  to  have  given  an  example  of  devotion  to  his 
noble  cause  and  to  have  furnished  proof  that  the  ground 
was  not  barren,  and  that  even  in  South  Africa  the  good 
seed  might  be  trusted  to  spring  up  and  to  bring  forth 
abundant  fruit. 

"  It  is  the  fashion  in  some  quarters  to  scoff  at  missionaries, 
to  receive  their  reports  with  incredulity,  to  look  at  them  at 
best  as  no  more  than  harmless  enthusiasts,  proper  subjects 
for  pity,  if  not  for  ridicule.  The  records  of  missionary 
work  in  South  Africa  must  be  a  blank  page  to  those  by 
whom  such  ideas  are  entertained.     We  owe  it  to  our  mis- 


"> MISSIONARY  FIRST,  A  CITIZEN  AFTER.     433 

sionaries  that  the  whole  region  has  been  opened  up.  Apart 
from  their  special  service  as  preachers,  they  have  done  im- 
portant work  as  pioneers  of  civilization,  as  geographers,  as 
contributors  to  philological  research.  Of  those  who  have 
taken  part  in  this,  Moffat's  name  is  not  the  best  known. 
Moffat,  it  may  be  said,  has  laboured,  and  other  men  have 
entered  into  his  labour.  Livingstone  has  come  after  him, 
and  has  gone  beyond  him,  and  has  linked  his  memory  for 
ever  with  the  records  of  the  South  African  Church.  Speke 
and  Stanley  have  become  household  names  where  Moffat 
has  been  unknown  or  has  been  forgotten.  In  his  own 
simple  words,  it  never  occurred  to  him,  while  working 
among  the  Bechwanas,  that  he  should  obtain  the  applause 
of  men.  His  one  care  was  for  those  among  whom  he  had 
cast  his  lot.  He  was  an  enthusiast,  of  course — a  man  would 
be  worth  little  for  missionary  enterprise  if  he  were  not  this 
at  all  events.  But  he  was  an  enthusiast  with  a  clear  sense 
of  the  right  means  to  employ  for  the  accomplishment  of  his 
unselfish  task.  He  had  a  message  to  deliver  of  love  and  of 
peace,  and  he  must  prepare  men  to  receive  it  by  instructing 
them  in  the  arts  of  peace.  The  progress  of  South  Africa 
has  been  mainly  due  to  men  of  Moffat's  stamp.  In  him,  as 
in  David  Livingstone,  it  is  hard  to  say  which  character  has 
predominated,  that  of  the  missionary  proper  or  that  of  the 
teacher  and  guide.  Certain  it  is  that  apart  from  the 
special  stimulus  they  felt  as  proclaimers  of  the  gospel 
message,  they  would  never  have  thrown  themselves  as  they 
did  into  the  work  to  which  their  lives  were  consecrated.  It 
was  by  no  zeal  for  the  spread  of  civilization  on  its  own 
account  that  they  passed  weary  years  labouring  and  teach- 
ing among  savage  tribes,  amid  dangers  of  every  kind,  amid 
privations  of  which  they  themselves  made  light,  but  which 
only  a  sense  of  their  high  spiritual  mission  could  have 
prompted  them  to  face  and  undergo.  One  part  of  Moffat's 
work  has  been  to  prepare  the  way  for  others.  He  has 
given,  so  far,  what  promises  to  be  a  lasting  stimulus.  It  is 
another  question  whether  his  own  work  will  endure.  He 
welcomed  the  annexation  of  the  Transvaal  by  this  country 
as  the  commencement  of  an   era  of  blessing  for    South 

29 


434  SUCH  MEN  MUCH  NEEDED. 

Africa.  He  saw  in  this  the  only  possible  guarantee  for  the 
safety  of  the  Bechvvanas  from  the  greed  and  tyranny  of  the 
Boers.  He  has  lived  to  see  the  Transv^aal  handed  back, 
freed  from  English  control,  and  sending  forth  once  again 
the  old  swarms  of  adventurers  to  rob  and  plunder  in  Bech- 
wanaland,  bidding  fair  to  undo  his  work,  and  to  force  the 
entire  region  back  again  into  sheer  barbarism.  It  would 
seem,  indeed,  that  it  is  only  by  the  agency  of  such  men  as 
Moffat  and  his  like  that  the  contact  of  the  white  and  black 
races  can  be  anything  but  a  curse  to  the  blacks.  Even  the 
arts  of  civilization  are  of  little  avail  by  themselves.  In 
some  parts  of  the  world  their  chief  result  has  been  to 
furnish  the  savage  with  means  of  enjoyment  which  have 
proved  fatal  to  him.  In  others,  the  black  man  has  been 
looked  upon  as  fair  prey.  He  has  been  forced  into  contact 
with  a  race  superior  to  his  own,  not  that  he  may  learn  from 
them,  but  that  he  may  serve  them  ;  not  that  he  may  be 
raised  to  their  level,  but  that  he  may  be  brought  down  to 
something  even  lower  than  before.  It  is  the  missionary 
alone  who  seeks  nothing  for  himself.  He  has  chosen  an 
unselfish  life.  If  honour  comes  to  him,  it  is  by  no  choice  of 
his  own,  but  as  the  unsought  tribute  which  others,  as  it 
were,  force  upon  him.  Robert  Moffat  has  died  in  the  ful- 
ness both  of  years  and  of  honours.  His  work  has  been  to 
lay  the  foundations  of  the  Church  in  the  central  regions  of 
South  Africa.  As  far  as  his  influence  and  that  of  his  coad- 
jutors and  successors  has  extended,  it  has  brought  with  it 
unmixed  good.  His  name  will  be  remembered  while  the 
South  African  Church  endures,  and  his  example  will 
remain  with  us  as  a  stimulus  to  others  and  as  an  abiding 
proof  of  what  a  Christian  missionary  can  be  and  can  do." 

The  following  is  from  the  Brighton  Daily  News 
of  the  same  date  : 

"  The  grave  has  just  closed  over  one  of  the  most  notable 
men  whose  figures  are  familiar  to  the  inhabitants  of 
Brighton.  Robert  Moffat,  the  veteran  pioneer  in  the  mis- 
sion field,  and  the  simplest  of  heroes,  has  passed  away,  and 


MOFFAT  AT  HOME  EVERYWHERE.       435 

many  of  the  noblest  of  the  land  followed  his  remains  to 
their  resting-place.  During  the  past  few  years  he  has  gone 
in  and  out  amongst  us,  and  whenever  he  was  seen  it  was 
felt  that  a  great  man  was  with  us.  Although  far  past  the 
fourscore  years,  he  retained  to  all  appearance  the  vigour  of 
manhood.  The  shaggy  grey  beard  adorned  the  face  sun- 
burnt by  the  exposure  of  half  a  century  to  the  heat  of 
Africa  ;  while  his  piercing  black  eyes  betokened  the  spirit 
of  one  who  had  often  stood  face  to  face  with  all  that  was 
most  fierce,  whether  wild  beast  or  savage,  or  twinkled  with 
the  keenest  humour  and  heartiest  humanity.  Perhaps  no 
more  thoroughly  genuine  soul  ever  breathed.  It  was  all 
the  same  to  Robert  Moffat  where  he  was  or  with  whom  he 
spoke.  He  addressed  the  cultured  audience  within  the 
majestic  walls  of  Westminster  Abbey  with  the  same  simple 
unconsciousness  that  lent  its  charm  to  him  when  he  led  the 
worship  within  the  humble  conventicle.  The  same  simple 
native  dignity  remained  as  unruffled  in  the  presence  of 
Royalty  as  when  conversing  with  the  best  known  friend. 
He  was  ever  himself  Those  who  have  heard  him  address- 
ing the  great  London  assembly,  and  witnessed  how  all 
who  listened  to  him  were  thrilled  and  spell-bound  merely 
by  the  magical  power  of  his  earnest  Doric  eloquence,  must 
have  pitied  the  practised  orator  who  followed  him,  for 
nature  asserted  its  supremacy,  and  art  was  compelled  to  yield 
the  palm.  It  was  the  same  all  through  his  great  career. 
There  are  thousands  of  full-grown  men  and  women  who 
cannot  forget  the  impression  made  when  as  children  they 
listened  to  the  story  of  his  early  victories.  When  last  they 
heard  him  there  was  still  the  plain  and  homely  utterance. 
The  years  told  not  on  him.  In  the  drawing-rooms  of 
fashionable  Brighton,  crowded  with  the  lovers  of  art  and 
science,  no  one  grudged  the  cessation  even  of  music  the 
most  classical,  or  of  conversation  the  most  charming,  to 
listen  to  the  venerable  Doctor  when  requested  to  repeat 
some  incidents  of  his  missionary  life.  All  felt  that  the 
scene  was  hallowed  by  the  presence  of  one  who  had  done  a 
work  for  the  good  of  men,  such  as  few  have  been  privileged 
to    accomplish.     Robert    Moffat    belonged  to  no  sect   or 


436  DR.  MACKIE'S  REMINISCENCES. 

party.     To  better  the  world  and  advance  the  one  Church 
formed  the  sole  end  of  his  being." 

Dr.  Mackie,  of  the  Warrington  Guardian,  gives 
one  or  two  notices  which  will  be  interesting. 

"  Dr.  Moffat's  connection  with  this  district  makes  a  few 
remarks  not  inopportune.  Coming  from  Scotland  about 
1813,  an  educated  working  gardener,  he  found  employment 
with  the  then  family  of  High  Leigh,  and  they  were  so 
charmed  with  the  ability  and  attention  of  their  young 
servant  that  they  built  him  a  cottage,  young  and  unmarried 
as  he  was.  He  soon  became  a  general  favourite  with  all 
the  household  ;  and  even  at  this  long  distance  he  is  re- 
membered for  his  efforts  to  make  their  evenings  happy. 

"  Mr.  Moffat  was  sent  to  Africa  and  Mr.  Williams  to  the 
South  Seas.  In  the  depths  of  Africa  Moffat  laboured 
alone  for  years,  spending  months  in  the  houses  of  the 
natives  that  he  might  learn  their  language.  He  used  to 
tell  that  the  report  of  the  trial  of  Queen  Caroline  was  three 
ior  four  years  old  before  it  reached  him.  Returning  to 
England  about  1837,  he  became  a  general  favourite  at  all 
■missionary  meetings,  and,  unknown  to  himself,  turned 
young  Livingstone  to  select  Africa  for  his  future  labour 
instead  of  going  to  China.  At  this  time  he  visited  War- 
rington, and  was  the  guest  of  the  late  Mr.  Rylands,  father 
■of  the  present  well-known  family  of  that  name.  After 
■being  once  more  in  Africa  for  nearly  thirty  years,  he 
returned  to  England,  but  he  wrote  to  Dr.  Mackie,  with 
-whom  he  had  kept  up  a  correspondence  for  many  years, 
that  he  must  defer  his  visit  for  a  time.  About  1871  he 
made  his  visit,  and  went  to  see  the  old  cottage  at  High 
Leigh,  saying  to  the  gentleman  with  him,  when  he  had 
entered  and  looked  round,  tears  coursing  down  his  cheeks, 
■*  It  was  here  the  Lord  revealed  Himself  to  my  soul  five 
and  fifty  years  ago.' 

"  Dr.  Moffat  was  one  of  the  most  childlike  and  purest 
spirits  it  ever  fell  to  the  writer's  lot  to  know.  Remarkably 
itall  and  manly,  and  with  an  eagle  eye,  life  in  the  African 


MOFFAT  AT  THE  MANSION  HOUSE.      437 

desert  was  no  heavy  lot  to  him.  He  charmed  the  chiefs 
and  their  people,  stayed  their  uplifted  spears,  left  his  family 
for  three  months  at  a  time  in  perfect  safety,  and  triumphed 
as  a  missionary.  Since  his  return  he  has  visited  most  parts 
of  the  country,  addressing  missionary  meetings,  and  preach- 
ing. Our  last  personal  interview  with  him  was  some  three 
years  ago,  when  he  was  standing  side  by  side  with  the  late 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  while  the  Lord  Mayor  was 
receiving  many  of  the  most  distinguished  men  in  the  king- 
dom to  a  dinner  in  Dr.  Moffat's  honour.  Observing  his 
old  Warrington  friend  in  the  crowd  of  guests,  he  made  his 
way  to  him  for  the  usual  salutations,  not  forgetting  any  of 
his  family,  down  even  to  the  little  girl  whom  he  had  bap- 
tized years  before.  He  is  gone,  and  leaves  not  his  superior 
on  earth  for  all  that  was  gracious  and  noble.  Mrs.  Moffat 
died  soon  after  their  return  to  England." 


CHAPTER  XL. 
REMINISCENCES  OF  FRIENDS. 

AT  different  periods  in  the  history  of  the  Kuru- 
man  Mission,  the  station  was  visited  by 
various  English  gentlemen  on  their  way  into 
the  interior  on  hunting  expeditions.  The  well- 
known  Gordon  Gumming  was  one  of  these.  There 
were  some  whose  names  will  be  always  remembered 
with  respect  and  goodwill  in  that  country,  and  from 
one  of  these  it  has  been  a  great  pleasure  to  receive 
a  few  lines  of  reminiscence.  Mr.  Oswell  will  be 
known  as  having  been  one  of  Livingstone's  com- 
panions  in  his  first  exploratory  journey,  when,  in  the 
year  1849,  the  Lake  Ngami,  or  Nghabe,  was  visited 
for  the  first  time  by  Europeans. 

"  Since  my  answer  to  your  letter  I  have  been  on  a  visit 
to  Kuruman,  and  have  seen  your  father  and  mother  amidst 
their  surroundings  ;  and  memory's  pictures,  though,  alas, 
not  so  substantial,  are  nearly  as  bright  as  the  original. 
How  well  I  remember  the  exquisite  arrangement  and  order 
of  the  mother's  household,  the  affectionate  interest  in  the 
wayfarers,  the  father's  courtly  hospitality  and  kindly 
advice,  and  the  ready  willingness  with  which  he  lent  him- 
self to  smooth  our  difficulties  and  help  us  on  our  way. 
Without  his  aid  we  should  have  fared  but  poorly ;  with  it, 


MR.  0 SWELL  ON  KURUMAN.  439 

the  stones  were  taken  out  of  the  path.  He  was  always  up 
in  the  news  of  the  world  beyond,  and  would  counsel  us  as 
to  our  route  and  the  best  way  of  avoiding  troubles.  How 
w^e  looked  forward  to  seeing  him  on  our  arrival  at  Kuru- 
man,  and  taking  from  his  oracular  lips  the  tidings  of  the 
interior  ;  and  then  on  our  return  he  was  always  the  most 
courteous  of  listeners  to  any  scraps  of  news  we  had  to  give, 
though  he  probably  knew  them  all  beforehand.  How 
pleasantly  he  enjoyed  my  mistakes  in  Sechwana,  and 
entered  into  all  our  worries  and  anxieties  ! 

•*  Dear  old  Kuruman  !  you  were  a  very  oasis  peopled 
with  the  kindest  friends.  My  short  visits  to  you  were 
among  the  happiest  of  my  life  ;  no  little  kingdom  ever  had 
a  better  king  and  queen,  no  home  a  better  host  and  hostess. 
With  his  majestic  presence,  his  kindly  courtesy  and  large 
heart,  your  father  was  a  true  '  grand  old  man.'  I  speak  of 
him  chiefly  in  his  relation  to  his  fellow  white  men,  because 
others,  better  qualified  than  I,  will  tell  of  what  he  was  to 
his  dark  brethren,  and  of  the  life  and  labours  of  the  father  of 
African  Missions  ;  but  I  can  answer  for  his  name  being  a 
household  word  as  far  as  I  went." 

Among  Robert  Moffat'.s  many  friends  may  be 
reckoned  the  Rev.  William  Guest,  formerly  of 
Gravesend,  and  his  wife.  The  latter  especially 
had  been  instrumental  in  renderinof  a  service  to  one 
member  of  the  family  which  had  greatly  cheered 
and  comforted  the  aged  missionary,  who  was  not 
without  his  cares.  It  has  been  truly  said  of  him 
by  Mr.  Guest,  that  "he  never  forgot  a  kind  atten- 
tion. Nothing  in  him  was  more  marked  than  his 
affectionateness  of  gratitude."  Mrs.  Guest's  portrait 
was  one  of  two  which  always  stood  on  his  mantel- 
piece at  Leigh.  He  had  taken  a  very  warm  in- 
terest in  Mr.  Guest's  efforts  in  connection  with  the 
establishment  of  the  Milton  Mount  School. 

The  Editor  has  been  favoured  by  Mr.  Guest  with 


440  ROBERT  MOFFAT  IN  HIS  KENTISH  HOME. 

a  few  words  which  picture  him  in  his  village  home 
in  Kent. 

"During  the  spring  of  1882,  my  wife  and  myself  went, 
by  invitation,  to  spend  a  day  or  two  with  Dr.  and  Miss 
Moffat  at  Leigh.  To  me  it  was  a  touchingly  beautiful 
sight  to  observe  the  respect  paid  to  the  dear  and  venerable 
man  by  the  people  of  the  village.  As  we  were  returning 
together  from  chapel,  the  labourers  (after  their  manner  on 
a  Sunday  evening)  stood  in  groups  in  the  main  road.  The 
moment  they  caught  sight  of  Dr.  Moffat,  they  fell  back  in 
a  most  respectful  manner,  and  formed  a  gangway  for  him 
to  pass  through  them.  There  was  not  a  face  among  those 
English  peasants,  men  and  youths,  on  which  there  was  not 
an  expression  of  reverence  and  honour.  It  was  as  the 
children  of  Heth  'answered  Abraham,  saying  unto  him, 
Thou  art  a  mighty  prince  among  us.'  And  the  old  man's 
'  Good  night,'  which  was  so  inimitably  friendly,  without 
either  undue  dignity  or  familiarity,  was  a  benison  to  them. 

"  Unfortunately  my  voice  failed  me  during  the  latter  part 
of  the  visit  so  that  I  could  not  assist  our  host  in  family 
worship.  For  me  there  was  great  gain.  Although  there 
was  then  marked  feebleness  upon  Dr.  Moffat,  he  neverthe- 
less prayed  in  a  manner  that  deeply  aifected  us.  There 
was  no  hurry  ;  not  the  slightest  obtrusion  of  physical  weak- 
ness. The  petitions  were  wondrously  copious,  and  yet 
with  no  unbecoming  minuteness  ;  they  were  at  once  reve- 
rential, adoring,  affectionate,  and  grateful.  The  references 
to  mercies,  successes,  and  disappointments  ;  the  spirit  of 
resignation  and  aspiration  ;  the  intercessions  for  others,  and 
especially  for  the  interests  of  Christ's  cause  in  the  world — 
all  combined  to  make  those  seasons  of  domestic  worship 
very  memorable.  In  my  own  home  he  had  often  prayed, 
and  had  done  this  at  the  opening  of  our  new  church  in 
Milton;  but  these  prayers  at  Leigh  seemed  to  Mrs.  Guest 
and  myself  to  be  pre-eminently  rich  in  their  sympathy  with 
Scripture,  and  in  all  the  holiest  elements  of  hallowed  com- 
munion with  the  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

"  I    add   a   quotation  from  the  obituary  notice   of  the 


LETTER  FROM  REV.  HUGH  COLLUM.     441 

doctor  which  appeared  in  the  Nonconformist  and  Indepen- 
dent of  August  16,  1883  : 

"  *  Three  weeks  ago  it  seemed  to  me  due  to  go  over  to 
Leigh  to  pay  a  mark  of  respect  to  the  veteran  missionary. 
His  natural  gracefulness  seemed  rather  heightened  than 
diminished  under  very  obvious  physical  weakness.  On 
quoting  to  him  the  thought  of  the  aged  Whittier,  on  the 
Quaker  poet's  birthday — 

"Before  me,  even  as  behind, 
God  is,  and  all  is  well  I  " 

he  replied  that  his  thoughts  recently  had  been  much  oc- 
cupied with  the  three  words,  "  That  blessed  hope."  With 
those  old  tones  of  musical  cadence  and  pathos,  he  repeated 
and  emphasized  the  epithet  "  blessed "  as  applied  to  the 
vision  of  the  Saviour  ;  and  he  seemed  anxious  to  assure  me 
that  it  was  not  only  to  "  the  glorious  appearing  "  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  that  his  prevailing  thoughts  adverted,  but  to 
his  own  approaching  introduction  to  Him.  It  was  a  beau- 
tiful attitude  for  the  spent  servant — the  long  life-work 
finished — to  think  chiefly  of  seeing  the  dear  Master  who 
had  graciously  appointed,  and  sustained  in,  the  service.' " 

The  Editor  is  glad  to  be  able  to  put  before  the 
readers  of  this  book  a  letter  from  the  Rev.  Hueh 
Collum,  vicar  of  Leigh,  which  will  be  interesting 
for  many  reasons.  It  brings  out  well  the  fact  that 
Robert  Moffat  was  not  so  much  in  sympathy  with 
any  particular  branch  of  the  Christian  Church,  as 
with  all  good  men  in  that  Church.  He  had  his  own 
views,  and  he  held  them  tenaciously,  but  his  mind 
dwelt  on  a  different  plane  from  that  <d{  ecclesiastical 
discussion.  Exception  must  be  taken  to  one  remark, 
and  then  this  work,  which  has  been  a  labour  of  love, 
is  done.  Mr.  Collum  says,  "  He  had  no  love  for  the 
Boers."  This  may  go  for  more  than  it  really  means. 
Among  the  Dutch  in  South  Africa  there  were  many 


442  THE  VILLAGE  OF  LEIGH. 

with  whom  Robert  and  Mary  Moffat  had  kept  up 
an  affectionate  friendship.  They  often  spoke  with 
almost  reverential  regard  of  the  high  Christian  cha- 
racter of  some  of  these.  Bitterly  as  their  hearts 
were  orrieved  at  the  sorrows  of  the  natives,  and  the 
lawless  and  oppressive  acts  of  which  the  more  tur- 
bulent emigrant  farmers  were  guilty,  the  Moffats 
never  withdrew  from  them  the  Christian  charity 
which  we  are  enjoined  to  accord  even  to  those  who 
have  wronged  us.  They  never  measured  words  in 
condemning  their  unjust  and  cruel  conduct,  but  they 
would  have  been  the  first  to  try  and  win  them  over 
if  conciliation  had  been  found  possible. 

"On  the  high  road  from  Hildenborough  to  Penshurst, 
nestling  in  a  corner  of  the  fine  park  in  which  stands  the 
mansion  of  Hall  Place — the  property  of  Mr.  Samuel 
Morley,  M.P. — almost  under  the  shadow  of  the  ancient 
parish  church  of  Leigh,  may  be  observed,  surrounded  by 
shrubs  and  evergreens,  the  picturesque  villa  of  Park  Cot- 
tage. It  was  here  that  a  kind  Providence  designed  that 
the  declining  years  of  the  subject  of  this  memoir  should  be 
peacefully  and  usefully  spent.  It  would  be  hard  to  find, 
within  an  hour's  ride  by  rail  of  the  Metropolis,  a  pleasanter 
or  more  congenial  retreat  in  which  to  terminate  a  long  and 
arduous  career,  so  full  of  incident,  variety,  and  adventure. 

"  To  my  mind  there  is  something  most  suggestive  in  the 
thought  of  the  great  and  successful  African  missionary — 
who  had,  with  so  much  Christian  fortitude  and  heroism, 
faced  a  thousand  dangers  and  surmounted  a  thousand 
difficulties,  during  the  half-century  in  which  he  had  toiled 
on  behalf  of  his  swarthy  children  in  the  faith — settling  down 
contentedly  in  a  quiet  English  village  to  end  his  days 
amid  peaceful  and  pleasant  surroundings,  honoured,  re- 
spected, and  beloved  by  all  who  knevv  him — '  waiting  for 
the  adoption.' 

"  It  was  in  the  year  1880  that  I  first  made  his  acquaint- 


MOFFAT S  PERSONAL  QUALITIES.       443 

ance.  It  was  impossible  to  look  into  his  face,  beaming  with 
intelligence  and  benevolence,  still  less  engage  in  conversa- 
tion with  him,  without  being  fully  persuaded  that  you  were 
in  the  presence  of  a  man  far  above  the  average.  There 
was  something  about  his  whole  appearance — so  massive 
and  masculine,  yet  so  gentle  and  yielding  ;  so  venerable 
and  dignified,  yet  so  simple  and  winning  ;  so  thoughtful  and 
serious,  yet  so  full  of  humour  and  playfulness — which  com- 
pletely captivated  the  imagination.  His  conversation  was 
easy,  natural,  unaffected,  without  reserve  or  self-conscious- 
ness— the  outcome  of  a  beautiful,  grave,  and  transparent 
soul — betraying  a  wide  knowledge  of  men  and  things,  an 
intimate  acquaintance  with  human  nature  and  human  life 
in  all  their  complex  variety ;  a  combination  which  to  me 
was  of  infinite  charm. 

"  I  always  esteemed  it  a  great  privilege,  a  rare  treat,  an 
intellectual  and  moral  feast  of  fat  things,  to  have  an  hour's 
chat  with  my  ever-to-be-regretted  venerable  friend.  I 
invanably  felt  that  I  came  away  after  my  visit  a  better  and 
a  wiser  man.  I  carried  away  with  me  a  higher  estimate  of 
our  common  humanity.  In  studying  such  a  man  I  realized, 
to  an  extent  which  I  had  seldom  done  before,  that  there 
are  infinite  possibilities  in  human  nature,  when  unspoiled 
and  unsoiled  and  suffered  to  develop  itself,  without  '  let  or 
hindrance,'  beneath  the  genial,  fostering  influences  of  the 
Divine  Spirit. 

"  Some  men  of  inferior  mould  in  Dr.  Moffat's  position, 
courted  by  the  great  and  good,  would  have  completely  lost 
their  balance — they  would  have  been  spoiled  by  human 
admiration  and  applause.  '  The  smoothness  of  flattery,' 
that  tendency  to  hero  worship  which  is  a  characteristic  of 
our  day,  would  have  marred  and  corrupted  a  character 
built  up  of  feebler  fibre. 

"  Happily  for  himself.  Dr.  Moffat  combined  the  well- 
balanced  mind  of  a  Christian  philosopher  with  the  attractive 
docility  and  simplicity  of  a  child.  He  was  a  living  example 
of  the  teaching  of  our  Divine  Master,  'Ye  must  become  as 
little  children  before  ye  can  enter  the  kingdom  of  heaven.' 
In   my  intercourse  with  him   I  was  often   struck  by  the 


444  HIS  STEDFAST  FAITH, 

spontaneous  expression  of  his  profound  reverence  for 
Almighty  God  ;  his  deep  and  sincere  attachment  to  the 
Person  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  his  unbounded  admir- 
ation for  and  behef  in  the  Divine  authority  and  regenerative 
influence  of  the  Holy  Scriptures.  In  an  age  in  which  it  is 
confidently  alleged  that  '  we  are  apparently  becoming  less 
religious,'  when  the  supernatural  is  being  discarded  by 
some  eminent  men  of  science  for  the  natural,  when  the 
creed  of  Christendom  is  being  emasculated  by  agnosticism, 
Dr.  Moffat's  faith  remained  unshaken,  undriven  about  by 
the  shifting  winds  and  currents  of  modern  doctrine.  At 
the  same  time,  he  was  fully  capable  of,  and  enjoyed,  enter- 
ing into  the  discussion  of  those  deep  problems  which  are 
exercising  the  thought  and  intelligence  of  some  of  the 
master  minds  of  our  age.  He  also  approached  with  deep 
interest  the  consideration  of  political  and  social  questions. 
The  critical  and  revolutionary  state  of  Ireland  engaged  his 
attention.  He  had  a  strong  conviction  that  the  ills  of 
Ireland  were  largely  due,  not  merely  to  past  misgovernment 
and  maladministration  of  her  affairs,  or  differences  of  race, 
but  also  to  the  pernicious  influence  of  the  predominant 
Roman  Catholic  religion,  which  is  a  thorn  in  the  side  of 
every  independent  and  Protestant  government.  But  the 
question  which  pre-eminently  interested  him  was  the  con- 
dition of  the  native  population  of  South  Africa.  He  was 
strongly  of  opinion  that  there  had  been  grievous  mistakes 
of  policy  and  administration.  He  had  no  love  for  the 
Boers  ;  while  he  had  the  utmost  sympathy  for  Cetewayo, 
whom  he  looked  upon  as  an  ill-used  and  unjustly-treated 
man. 

"We  often  had  friendly  discussions  and  arguments  on 
religious  questions.  He  was,  it  is  needless  to  say,  a  staunch 
but  liberal-minded  Nonconformist.  I  was  often  intensely 
amused  at  his  quaint,  original,  and  humorous  way  of 
looking  at  Church  matters.  He  evidently  thought  that,  in 
the  case  of  the  venerable  Church  of  England,  the  primitive 
purity  and  simplicity  of  the  faith  had  been  marred  and 
materialized  by  contact  with  social  forces,  and  hampered  by 
State  alliance.     It  was  a  perplexity  with  him  to  reconcile 


HIS  VIEWS  OF  THE  LITURGY.  445 

the  titles,  rank,  incomes,  and  mode  of  living  of 'the  digni- 
taries of  the  Church '  with  the  self-denying,  hard-faring 
lives  of  the  apostles  and  pioneers  of  the  faith — '  the  servant,' 
in  his  judgment,  '  not  being  greater  than  his  Master.' 

"  I  recollect  his  giving  me  an  amusing  account  of  his 
being  entertained  at  dinner  by  the  hospitable  Archbishop 
Tait.  The  state  and  circumstance  of  the  palace  on  the  one 
hand,  and  the  eminently  Christian  character,  geniality,  and 
sympathy  of  the  good  Archbishop,  suggested  to  his  simple 
mind  a  bewildering  contrast.  With  that  catholicity  of 
spirit  which  distinguished  him,  he  was  wont  to  attend  the 
afternoon  service  in  the  parish  church  from  time  to  time. 
He  enjoyed  the  reading  of  the  lessons,  the  hymns,  and  the 
sermon,  but  finding  out  the  places  in  the  Prayer-book  evi- 
dently puzzled  him.  The  Litany — which  to  the  majority  of 
Churchmen  is,  perhaps,  the  most  beautiful  and  comprehen- 
sive feature  of  our  Liturgy — was  to  him,  I  think,  the  least 
attractive  part  of  the  service.  The  breaking  up  of  the  sublime 
whole  into  a  number  of  short,  ejaculatory  sentences,  the 
frequent  and  emphatic  reiteration  of  the  same  words  by 
the  congregation,  were  to  him  uncongenial,  savouring  of 
'  vain  repetition.'  If  I  recollect  rightly,  it  suggested  to 
him  the  quaint  idea  of  '  bickering,'  or  importunity. 

"  Even  the  most  bigoted  and  narrow-minded  Churchman, 
however,  could  not  take  offence  at  Dr.  Moffat's  friendly 
and  not  unnatural  criticisms  of  our  system,  services,  and 
ceremonial,  which  to  him  must  have  seemed  somewhat 
strange.  They  were  offered,  from  an  independent  and  by 
no  means  unsympathetic  standpoint,  with  the  utmost 
candour  and  bojihomie.  To  my  mind  they  were  rather 
refreshing  and  stimulating,  and  I  enjoyed  listening  to  what 
could  be  said  '  on  the  other  side  of  the  question  '  by  one 
whom  I  so  greatly  admired  and  esteemed. 

"  But  if  the  good  Doctor  did  not  on  occasion  scruple  to 
point  out  what  to  him  appeared  the  defects  of  the  Church, 
even  while  freely  acknowledging  the  good  work  she  was 
doing,  he  was  by  no  means  blind  to  the  imperfections  of 
Nonconformity.  As  a  large-minded  and  large-hearted 
man,  who  had  seen   much  of  the    v/orld,  who  had    been 


446    HIS  PUBLIC  ENGAGEMENTS  AT  LEIGH. 

brought  face  to  face  with  the  degradations  of  heathenism 
and  of  bastard  forms  of  Christianity,  he  had  no  sympathy 
with  what  was  narrow,  bitter,  sectarian,  or  intolerant, 
whether  it  vvere  found  within  the  Church,  or  in  systems 
outside  her  pale.  If  I  mistake  not.  Nonconformity  no  less 
than  ecclesiasticism  had  its  own  peculiar  puzzles  for  him. 
He  never  attempted  to  justify  or  palliate  those  too  nume- 
rous and  grievous  divisions  which  marred  the  symmetry, 
broke  the  unity,  and  weakened  the  influence  for  good  of  the 
Church  of  Christ  in  its  increasingly  hard  struggles  with 
'  the  powers  of  darkness  ; '  and  in  his  generous  heart  he 
longed  for  the  reunion,  in  the  one  true  faith  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  of  a  divided  and  distracted  Christendom,  thus 
realizing  the  devout  aspiration  of  the  Founder  of  our  faith, 
'  that  they  al/  may  be  one.' 

"  He  was  always  most  ready  to  take  part  in  any  village 
gatherings — turning  out  of  his  home  on  dark  and  cold 
winter  evenings.  He  attended  many  of  our  schoolroom 
lectures,  and  was  ever  willing,  when  requested,  to  say  '  a 
word  in  season.'  He  highly  approved  of  our  Penny  Readings, 
and  thoroughly  appreciated  the  musical  selections,  readings, 
and  recitations. 

"  On  more  than  one  occasion  he  gave  us  a  thrilling 
account  of  his  exciting  adventures  with  African  lions ! 
Like  his  great  apostolic  "missionary  predecessor,  he  could 
say,  though  in  a  somewhat  different  sense,  '  I  have  fought 
with  beasts.' 

"At  the  annual  meeting  of  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible 
Society  in  our  schoolroom,  we  always  looked  for  his  wel- 
come presence,  and  I  do  not  think  we  ever  looked  for  it  in 
vain.  He  seemed  to  take  a  special  pleasure  and  intereslj^ 
in  these  gatherings — when  Christians  of  all  denominations 
could  meet  on  a  common  platform  in  support  of  a  common 
cause.  He  was  wont  to  say,  '  I  have  two  masters  :  the 
London  Missionary  Society,  and  the  British  and  Foreign 
Bible  Society,'  and  they  both  commanded  his  allegiance 
and  affection.  More  than  once  he  publicly  referred  to 
his  arduous  undertaking  of  translating  the  Scriptures  into 
the  Bechwana  tongue.     He  had  first  to  give  shape  and 


HIS  NONCONFORMITY.  447 

grammatical  structure  to  a  language  which  had  never  been 
reduced  to  writing,  before  he  could  proceed  with  the  work 
of  translating.  This,  I  think,  he  regarded  as  his  viagjiinn 
opus,  and  it  left  its  abiding  mark  on  him  in  the  shape  of 
sleeplessness  and  other  evidences  of  an  overtaxed  brain. 
On  these  occasions  it  was  most  touching  to  see  him  passing 
his  hand  apologetically  over  his  deeply-furrowed  brow, 
whilst  labouring  to  recall  some  particular  episode  or  pas- 
sage in  his  varied  African  experience. 

"  In  my  hearing  he  never  spoke  much  of  Dr.  Livingstone, 
though  often  I  earnestly  wished  he  would,  of  his  own 
accord,  broach  so  intensely  interesting  a  topic.  One  could, 
however,  easily  understand  that  it  was  a  subject  which 
recalled  many  sad  recollections  and  mournful  associations. 

"  He  was  a  most  regular  and  devout  attendant  at  the 
numerous  services  held  in  the  attractive  Nonconformist 
chapel,  built  by  Mr.  Samuel  Morley,  in  the  village  of  Leigh. 

"  As  I  was  wont  to  meet  my  venerable  friend  and  his 
devoted  daughter  going,  Sunday  after  Sunday,  in  one 
direction,  whilst  I  and  mine  took  the  other,  I  could  not 
help  reflecting  on  such  a  singular  outcome  of  our  common 
Christianity  :  the  autocrat  of  conscience  leading  good 
men,  who  had  so  much  in  common,  to  adopt  each  his  own 
course  in  worshipping  the  same  great  common  Father, 
through  the  same  blessed  and  Divine  Son. 

"In  the  summer  of  1881  the  happy  thought  suggested 
itself  to  the  mind  of  Alderman  McArthur  (now  Sir 
William),  the  Lord  Mayor  of  London,  to  give  a  public 
banquet  in  the  Mansion  House  in  honour  of  Dr.  Moffat, 
inviting  the  representatives  of  the  various  religious  bodies, 
institutes,  and  missionary  societies  to  meet  him.  To  this 
banquet  my  father's  old  friend,  Sir  William  McArthur, kindly 
invited  me.  I  well  recollect  having  a  very  interesting  con- 
versation with  the  Doctor  before  the  arrival  of  the  auspicious 
day.  While  deeply  sensible  of  the  compliment  which  was 
being  paid  him,  and,  in  his  person,  the  glorious  cause  of 
propagating  Christianity  and  civilization  to  which  his  life 
had  been  devoted,  I  do  not  think  he  was  greatly  en- 
amoured of  the  special  form  which  it  was  to  take.     He  was 


445  ENTERTAINED  AT  THE  MANSION  HOUSE. 

evidently  not  an  ardent  admirer  of  the  truly  British 
institution  of  giving  sumptuous  and  costly  entertainments 
in  honour  of  great  events  or  distinguished  public  services. 
He  considered  that  the  money  might  be  better  and  more 
appropriately  expended. 

"  On  the  morning  of  the  day  so  memorable  in  the  annals 
alike  of  civic  hospitality  and  the  cause  of  missionary  and 
philanthropic  effort,  I  received  a  note  from  my  venerable 
friend,  asking  me  if  I  could  give  him  a  seat  to  the  station, 
and  '  take  charge  '  of  him  to  town.  I  need  hardly  say  I 
was  only  too  delighted  to  have  the  pleasure  of  his  company; 
and  we  journeyed  together  to  the  imperial  capital,  and 
parted  only  to  meet  again  at  the  Mansion  House,  and 
partake  of  the  Lord  Mayor's  proverbial  hospitality. 

"  It  was  truly  a  magnificent  and  impressive  sight  to 
observe  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  the  representatives 
of  both  Houses  of  Parliament,  the  President  of  the 
Methodist  body,  and  all  the  leading  men  of  the  religious 
and  philanthropic  world  —  the  aged  Lord  Shaftesbury 
among  the  number — assembled  together  to  do  honour,  no^ 
to  some  foreign  potentate  or  successful  general,  but  to  *  a 
servant  of  Jesus  Christ,  called  to  be  a  missionary — sepa- 
rated unto  the  gospel  of  God.' 

"  It  was  my  good  fortune  on  that  occasion  to  sit  at  table 
beside  my  esteemed  friend  and  squire,  Mr.  Samuel  Morley, 
who  had  the  greatest  admiration  for  and  took  the  liveliest 
interest  in  everything  that  concerned  the  comfort  and 
happiness  of  our  mutual  friend  and  neighbour. 

"  I  shall  not  soon  forget  that  brilliant  throng,  so 
eminently  representative  of  British  Christianity  and  British 
enterprise  ;  nor  the  outburst  of  enthusiasm  evoked  when 
the  health  of  Dr.  Moffat  was  eloquently  proposed. 

"  Much,  however,  as  I  should  like  to  linger  fondly  on  so 
fertile  and  congenial  a  theme  as  my  reminiscences  of  a 
name  which  shall  live  as  long  as  the  British  language,  I 
must  rapidly  compress  my  matter  and  draw  to  a  close. 

"  During  the  last  year  of  his  life  there  was  manifestly 
a  loss  of  wonted  vigour  and  vitality,  which  was  a  source 
oi  constant  apprehension  and    anxiety  to  his  family  and 


HIS  DEATH.  449 

friends.  In  the  winter  he  complained  much  of  the  cold  of 
our  climate,  and  spoke  regretfully  of  the  bright  sunshine 
and  glowing  warmth  of  that  continent  which  he  so  dearly 
loved.  Sometimes  he  would  pass  his  hand  over  his  chest 
and  say  that  he  felt  as  though  his  lungs  were  gone. 

"Just  before  leaving  for  my  holiday  in  August,  on 
Sunday  evening  I  received  a  message  to  say  that  Dr. 
Moffat  was  very  ill,  and  asking  whether,  pending  the 
arrival  of  a  physician  from  town,  I  could  suggest  anything 
to  alleviate  the  nausea  and  sickness  from  which  he  was 
suffering.  I  ventured  to  send  or  bring  some  simple 
medicines  which  I  had  at  hand,  and  am  thankful  now  to 
remember  that  they  afforded  some  temporary  relief 

"  I  think  it  was  on  the  following  morning  that  I  called 
to  say  'farewell' — little  thinking  that  it  would  prove  'a 
long  farewell'  When  I  arrived  at  the  hall  door  I  refrained 
from  ringing,  as  I  could  distinctly  hear  that  he  was  engaged 
in  family  prayer.  It  was  most  touching  to  listen  to  the 
aged,  somewhat  quavering  voice,  pouring  forth  in  simple, 
earnest,  childlike  language  the  expression  of  its  wants  in 
the  ear  of  Him  'who  is  always  more  ready  to  hear,  than 
we  to  pray,  and  is  wont  to  give  more  than  either  we  desire 
or  deserve.' 

'■  A  few  days  after  my  arrival  in  Donegal,  I  received,  to 
my  sorrow  and  surprise,  a  telegram  saying  that  my  vener- 
able neighbour  had  passed  peacefully  to  his  eternal  rest  ; 
and  the  telegram  was  followed  by  letters  confirmatory  of 
the  sad  news  from  my  friends,  the  Rev.  G.  L.  Towers  and 
Miss  Moffat. 

"  Looking  back  upon  the  residence  of  Dr.  Moffat  in  this 
parish,  I  can  say,  without  fear  of  contradiction,  that  it  was 
an  unspeakable  blessing  to  the  place  and  neighbourhood. 
'  We  ne'er  shall  look  upon  his  like  again.'  His  influence 
was  eminently  Christian  and  genial.  He  lived  so  simply, 
and  sought  so  thoroughly  to  identify  himself  with  the 
interests  of  his  neighbours  of  all  classes,  and  to  harmonize 
his  life  with  the -circumstances  in  which  he  found  himself. 
Everybody  in  the  parish  appreciated  and  esteemed  him — 
from  the  philanthropic  squire  down  to  the.  humblest  villager 

30 


450      LETTER  FROM  REV.  J.  G.  ROGERS. 

and  school-child.  We  all  came  to  look  upon  him  as  one 
of  ourselves.  We  miss,  beyond  expression,  his  familiar  and 
venerable  form  going  in  and  out  among  us;  but  his  memory 
abideth  green,  and  will  long  survive.  It  would  be  a  sincere 
gratification  to  me  if  some  suitable  memorial  of  his  residence 
in  this  village  could  be  devised  ;  so  that  future  generations, 
when  they  read  the  inspiring  story  of  his  life,  hiight  be  able 
to  point  to  the  place  and  say:  'Here  lived  and  died,  in  peace 
with  all  mankind,  the  great  Christian  missionary,  Robert 
Moffat,  the  father-in-law  of  the  famous  explorer  Living- 
stone, who  had  been  the  means  of  the  latter  devoting  his 
life  to  the  service  of  that  "  Dark  Continent,"  which  we  fer- 
vently trust  shall  one  day  be  illumined  with  the  bright 
beams  of  that  Sun  of  righteousness  which  shall  never  set 
nor  wane,  but  shall  shine  more  and  more  unto  the  perfect 
day.'" 

The  writer  of  the  following  letter  has  done  a 
kindness,  not  only  to  the  Editor,  but  to  all  those  vv^ho 
are  likely  to  be  readers  of  this  book,  in  the  loving 
testimony  he  bears  to  the  kind  of  influence  exerted 
by  Robert  Moffat  over  the  minds  of  his  fellow-men 
during  the  space  of  two  generations. 

"Clapham  Common,  J\/ay  20. 

"My  dear  Mr.  Moffat, — My  recollections  of  your 
honoured  father  extend  a  long  way  back.  They  are  but 
slight,  and  I  am  afraid  you  may  find  them  rather  disap- 
pointing. It  was  in  the  year  of  his  first  visit  to  England 
that  I  first  saw  and  heard  him.  But  even  then  I  learned 
to  honour  and  love  him.  I  was  a  mere  lad  at  the  time,  and 
had  gone  to  Liverpool  to  enjoy  the  missionary  services. 
The  annual  meeting  was  held  in  Great  George  Street 
Chapel,  which  was  crowded  by  a  deeply  interested  congre- 
gation, who,  however,  had  come  together  for  the  purpose 
•of  hearing  other  missionaries,  and  had  no  idea  of  the  extra- 
>crdinary  surprise  that  was  in  store  for  them.  Your  father 
had  unexpectedly  come  to  the  town,  and  was  asked  to 
:speak.     From  the  first  word  of  his  address  he  kept  the 


AT  GREAT  GEORGE  STREET  CHAPEL.   451 

audience  in  a  state  of  intense  excitement  and  delight.  His 
touching  simplicity,  his  loving  spirit,  and  his  unaffected 
modesty,  impressed  the  assembly  almost  as  much  as  the 
wonderful  story  he  had  to  recite.  That  speech  made  his 
reputation  with  the  English  public.  It  was  the  speech  of 
an  apostle,  and  he  himself  looked  the  apostle.  A  night  or 
two  afterwards  he  came  to  the  little  church  of  which  my 
father  was  minister,  and  his  coming  was  an  excitement  even 
in  the  sleepy  little  town  where  the  church  was.  My  hap- 
piest remembrances  of  him,  however,  are  in  the  home  where 
his  visit  was  long  remembered  as  a  bright  and  joyous  event. 

"  In  my  pastorate  at  Ashton-under-Lyne  I  was  brought 
into  contact  with  memories  of  your  mother.  She  was 
one  of  the  first  members  of  the  church  at  that  place, 
which  was  founded  under  circumstances  of  difficulty  which 
severely  taxed  the  faith  and  patience  of  those  who  had 
entered  upon  an  undertaking  which  at  first  seemed  to  have 
but  little  promise.  It  was  owing,  in  truth,  to  the  zeal  and 
devotion  of  a  very  few  that  the  foundation  was  laid  of  a 
church  which  has  long  been  one  of  the  most  influential  in 
the  county  of  Lancaster.  Amiong  these  your  grandfather 
and  your  mother  were  conspicuous,  and  her  name  was 
fragrant  in  the  memories  of  some  of  the  older  members 
even  when  I  was  the  pastor. 

"  Of  course,  after  coming  to  London  I  often  met  your 
father  ;  but  one  interview  in  particular  remains  fresh  in  my 
recollection.  I  had  the  honour  to  be  one  of  a  deputation 
sent  by  the  Congregational  Board  to  congratulate  him  on 
his  eightieth  birthday.  He  received  us  with  all  that  native 
grace  and  dignity  which  were  characteristic  of  him,  and  the 
spectacle  of  the  venerable  patriarch  was  one  not  easily  to 
be  forgotten.  It  was  his  reply,  however,  to  our  address 
which  most  impressed  me.  1  have  often  quoted  it  as  a 
striking  example  of  the  modesty  of  true  greatness,  and  of 
the  way  in  which  the  noblest  worker  hides  himself  behind 
his  work.  '  I  never,'  he  said,  in  those  tender  and  plaintive 
notes  of  his  that  were  so  familiar  to  all,  '  I  never  thought 
when  I  was  working  in  South  Africa  to  see  a  day  like  this. 
I   simply  did  the  work  of  the  day  in  the  day,  and  never 


452  LETTER  FROM  MR.  CHESSON. 

thought  that  any  one  in  England  would  think  of  me  or  it.' 
It  was  a  genuine  self-revelation,  in  which  was  to  be  found 
the  secret  of  his  power  and  success.  Because  he  thought 
so  little  of  himself,  all  his  friends  and  brethren  thought 
much  of  him.  I  cannot  suppose  that  any  one  ever  said 
an  unkind  word  of  Robert  Moffat.  While  he  was  here  he 
was  cherished  in  the  love  of  all  of  us,  and  now  that  he  has 
passed  away  his  life-work  is  a  sanctified  and  inspiring 
memory. — Believe  me,  yours  very  faithfully, 

"  J.  Guinness  Rogers." 

Mr.  Chesson's  indefatigable  efforts  on  behalf  of 
the  Aborigines  inspired  Robert  Moffat's  sympathy 
and  admiration,  and  they  frequently  met  to  plead 
the  cause  of  those  vi^hose  interests  they  both  had  so 
much  at  heart.  Mr.  Chesson  has  kindly  furnished 
me  with  some  particulars  of  several  of  these  occasions. 

"5,  TiTE  Street,  Chelsea, 

"  July  7,  1885. 

"  My  dear  Mr.  Moffat,^!  have  great  pleasure  in  re- 
calling a  few  reminiscences  of  your  honoured  father,  whose 
name  has  been  for  so  long  a  period  a  household  word 
among  the  friends  of  aboriginal  races.  My  personal 
acquaintance  with  him  did  not  begin  till  after  he  had 
finally  retired  from  his  great  missionary  work,  but  happily 
he  was  still  engaged  in  the  active  performance  of  those 
duties  which  made  his  noble  presence  and  his  earnest  voice 
so  familiar  to  tens  of  thousands  of  the  British  people, 

"  One  of  my  most  interesting  recollections  of  Dr.  Moffat 
has  reference  to  the  occasion  on  which  the  committee  of 
the  Aborigines  Protection  Society  presented  a  congratula- 
tory address  to  Sir  Bartle  Frere  on  his  appointment  as 
Governor  of  the  Cape  Colony.  This  was  in  February, 
1877.  It  is  worthy  of  remark  that  both  the  deputation 
and  the  new  Governor  approached  the  native  question 
from  the  same  point  of  view  ;  for  Sir  Bartle  Frere  told 
his  visitors  that  'he  should  be  exceedingly  glad  if  he 
were  allowed  during  what  remained  to  him  of  official  life 


HIS  ADDRESS  IN  WESTMINSTER  ABBEY.  453 

to  carry  into  effect  the  principles  of  entire  justice  to 
every  class,  race,  creed,  and  colour.'  Dr.  Moffat  was 
greatly  disappointed  when  he  found  that  the  new  policy 
in  South  Africa  involved  the  military  conquest  of  the 
Zulus  and  the  compulsory  disarmament  of  the  native 
tribes.  He  signed  the  protest  against  the  Zulu  war,  which 
a  large  number  of  influential  persons  addressed  to  Sir 
Michael  Hicks  Beach,  the  Colonial  Secretary,  in  the  spring 
of  1879.  Early  in  the  following  year  he  wrote  a  letter  to 
me  in  which  he  put  the  disarmament  question  in  a  striking 
light.  '  There  are  some  things,'  he  said,  '  in  the  British 
Government  which  must  appear  to  the  native  mind  ex- 
tremely perplexing.  That  Government  allows  its  merchants 
in  town  and  country  to  sell  firearms  to  the  native  tribes  to 
any  amount,  and  gives  licenses  to  traders  to  go  far  and 
near  to  sell  and  barter  with  firearms,  and  by  which  many 
have  made  ample  fortunes  and  added  to  the  revenues  of 
the  colony.  By  and  by  John  Bull  prepares  a  proclama- 
tion, and  it  goes  forth  that  all  those  over  whom  he  has 
power  are  to  be  disarmed,  that  is,  deprived  of  the  property 
for  which  they  have  honourably,  and  in  some  cases  enor- 
mously, paid.  Surely  if  our  beloved  Queen  knew  all  these 
things  she  would  not,  on  any  account,  give  her  consent.' 
His  views  as  to  the  native  policy  of  the  Boers  in  the 
Transvaal,  and  as  to  the  duty  of  the  Imperial  Government 
to  secure  adequate  protection  to  the  loyal  tribes  within 
and  near  the  borders  of  that  country  were  equally 
emphatic.  I  well  remember  the  speech  he  made  on  this 
subject  at  the  residence  of  Mr.  W,  H.  James,  M.P.,  when, 
on  Lord  Shaftesbury's  invitation,  he  gave,  from  personal 
knowledge,  a  vivid  description  of  the  cruel  and  oppressive 
treatment  which  the  natives  had  received  at  the  hands  of 
the  Boers  during  his  long  residence  in  South  Africa. 

"It  may  interest  you  to  know  that  I  was  present  in  West- 
minster Abbey  on  that  memorable  evening  towards  the 
close  of  1873,  when,  on  the  invitation  of  Dean  Stanley,  Dr. 
Moffat  delivered  a  missionary  address  in  the  great  nave. 
The  Dean  was  resolute  in  his  determination  to  break 
down,  as  far  as  he  possibly  could,  the  wall  of  partition 


454  AT  THE  MANSION  HOUSE. 

between  Churchmen  and  Nonconformists  ;  and  in  the 
exercise  of  the  discretion  vested  in  him  as  Dean,  he 
invited  men  Hke  Dr.  Caird,  Dr.  Moffat,  and  Professor  Max 
Miiller,  not  to  preach  sermons  from  the  Abbey  pulpit — for 
that  would  have  been  illegal — but  to  speak  from  a  reading 
desk  on  some  important  religious  topic.  My  friend,  Mr. 
Alexander  McArthur,  M.P.,  and  I  made  a  point  of  being 
present  at  the  delivery  of  Dr.  Moffat's  address,  and  I  feel 
sure  that  we  shall  both  always  retain  a  lively  recollection 
of  the  good  Doctor's  animated  and  interesting  effort  to 
excite  the  sympathy  of  the  congregation  on  behalf  of  his 
beloved  Bechwanas. 

"  A  yet  more  important  occasion  was  the  dinner  which 
Lord  Mayor  McArthur  gave  to  Dr.  Moffat  in  the  Egyptian 
Hall  on  May  7,  i88i.  It  was  in  some  respects  one  of  the 
most  remarkable  meetings  of  the  kind  ever  held  in  the  City 
of  London.  Certainly  so  varied  and  so  influential  a  repre- 
sentation of  the  religious  and  philanthropic  world  was 
never  before  brought  together  to  do  honour  to  a  Christian 
missionary.  An  eminent  Wesleyan  layman  (now  Sir 
William  McArthur)  occupied  the  chief  magistrate's  chair. 
The  guest  of  the  evening  sat  between  the  Lord  Mayor  and 
Lord  Shaftesbury,  and  his  other  near  neighbours  were  Sir 
Powell  Buxton  and  the  Bishop  of  Sodor  and  Man.  The 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury — the  lamented  Dr.  Tait — sat 
side  by  side  with  the  Rev.  E.  E.  Jenkins,  President  of  the 
Wesleyan  Conference.  Lord  Nelson,  whose  High  Church 
proclivities  are  well  known,  fraternized  with  Mr.  Joseph 
Hoare,  a  distinguished  Evangelical  layman.  The  Rev. 
Malcolm  Macoll  elbowed  a  converted  Turk,  and  very 
appropriately  that  estimable  member  of  the  Society  of 
Friends,  Samuel  Gurney,  sat  next  to  Mr.  Chase,  the  chief 
of  the  Ojebways.  The  speeches  were  far  above  the 
average  on  such  occasions.  In  proposing  the  toast  of  the 
Royal  Family,  the  Lord  Mayor  dwelt  on  the  interest  which 
the  Prince  Consort  took  in  the  exploration  of  Africa,  as 
shown  by  his  having  presided  at  the  Niger  meeting  in 
1840,  when  Livingstone  (Dr.  Moffat's  son-in-law)  was  one 
of  the  audience.     The  speech  of  the  evening  was  made  by 


ARCHBISHOP  TAITS  SPEECH,  455 

Archbishop  Tait.  Thankin^j  the  Lord  Mayor  for  havincr 
brought  such  a  unique  assemblage  together,  he  remarked 
that  while  it  was  common  to  recognize  in  this  great  city 
commercial  industry  and  exertion,  it  was  not  so  common 
to  remember  that  far  better  than  the  defence  of  armies  or 
navies,  far  better  than  the  influence  of  commerce,  is  the 
power  of  that  gospel  which  the  missionaries  make  it  the 
business  of  their  lives  to  extend.  He  said  he  did  not 
know  anything  more  instructive  than  the  fact  that  the 
representatives  of  so  many  missionary  societies  were  able 
thus  peacefully  to  assemble  on  a  common  platform.  They 
were  all  determiined  to  spread  the  gospel,  and  he  thought 
that  perhaps  the  best  mode  by  which  they  could  hope  to 
arrive  at  one  opinion  at  last  was  by  each  one  of  them 
resolutely  and  conscientiously  disseminating  his  own 
views.  His  allusions  to  Dr.  Moffat  were  full  of  good 
feeling.  In  paying  a  warm  tribute  to  Dr.  Moffat's  mission- 
station  as  a  centre  of  light,  he  said:  'Amid  all  the  changes 
of  life,  and  amidst  all  the  varieties  of  opinion  there  is  a 
reverence  for  old  age,  and  for  old  and  tried  servants  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  which  makes  us  all  feel  as  brethren  in 
the  presence  of  an  old  and  devoted  servant  of  the  Lord.' 
The  Archbishop  thus  struck  the  true  key-note  of  the 
meeting.  Canon  Farrar  spoke  in  the  same  spirit.  '  While,' 
he  said,  'the  Archbishop  was  speaking  I  was  reminded  of 
the  remark  which  Lord  Macaulay  made  on  his  return  from 
India.  He  said  that  he  had  been  living  so  long  in  a 
country  where  the  people  worshipped  cows  that  he  was 
unable  to  attach  any  deep  importance  to  the  minor  ques- 
tions which  separate  Christians.'  Dr.  Allon  gave  expres- 
sion to  a  similar  sentiment  when  he  remarked,  that  in  the 
presenceof  a  noble  work  like  that  of  Dr.  Moffat, 'sectarianism 
is  dumb.'  '  The  venerable  father  of  the  missionary  world,' 
as  Mr.  Alderman  Fowler  called  him,  was  doubly  honoured 
on  this  occasion — he  was  honoured  not  only  by  the  compli- 
ment which  the  Lord  Mayor  paid  him  by  the  banquet  he 
gave  in  his  honour  at  the  Mansion  House,  but  also  by  the 
noble  and  appreciative  spirit  which  pervaded  the  entire 
proceedings. 


456  REV.  R.  ROBINSON'S  LETTER. 

"  I  could  repeat  many  other  interesting  facts  connected 
with  my  venerated  friend,  but  I  have  probably  said  enough 
for  the  special  object  which  has  called  forth  this  letter. — 
Believe  me,  very  faithfully  yours, 

"F.  W.  Chesson." 

The  following  communication  from  the  Rev.  R. 
Robinson,  so  long  the  Home  Secretary  of  the  Lon- 
don Missionary  Society,  will  appropriately  close  this 
Memoir.  He  represents  the  past  generation  of 
directors  and  officials  who  conducted  the  affairs  of 
the  Society  in  the  days  of  Robert  Moffat's  activity  ; 
and  those  who  know  his  many  acts  of  goodwill  will 
be  best  able  to  appreciate  the  genuineness  of  the 
strong  regard  expressed  in  this  letter : 

"7,  Manor  Road,  Brockley,  S.E., 

"  A/arch  24,  1885. 

"  My  dear  Mr.  Moffat, — With  much  diffidence,  yet 
with  very  sincere  pleasure,  I  hasten  to  respond  to  your 
earnest  request  for  some  personal  reminiscences  of  your 
late  venerated  father,  whom  I  have  known  so  long  and 
revered  so  much,  and  with  whom  of  late  years  I  have  had 
frequent  opportunities  of  close  and  affectionate  intercourse, 
and  have  also  received  from  him  many  most  interesting 
letters,  both  short  and  long. 

"  To  me  he  has  always  appeared  the  very  ideal  of  a  true 
missionary,  and  my  heart  was  stirred  to  its  lowest  depths 
when,  as  a  young  minister,  I  listened  to  his  moving  appeals 
addressed  to  crowded  audiences  during  his  visit  to  this 
country  on  his  first  and  only  furlough,  more  than  forty-five 
years  ago  ;  and  now  that  in  later  times  I  have  been  brought 
into  closer  contact,  I  have  felt  constrained  to  regard  him 
as  one  of  our  moral  heroes  and  spiritual  princes — a  man, 
indeed,  '  after  God's  own  heart.'  His  vital  godliness,  his 
evident  love  to  the  Lord  Jesus,  his  firm  faith  in  the  gospel, 
seemed  to  me  to  be  as  distinct  and  distinguishing  as  were 
his  features,  making  him,  everywhere  and  in  every  company, 
a  marked  man. 


AT  THE  MISSION  HOUSE.  457 

"  His  pastor,  the  Rev.  William  Roby,  of  Manchester,  ever 
spake  of  him  as  one  of  whom  he  had  formed  the  hipjhest 
estimate,  and  commended  him  as  of  singularly  sterling 
worth  when  he  introduced  him,  as  '  a  bonnie  laddie,'  to  the 
Directors  more  than  seventy  years  ago  ;  and  it  is  evident  he 
thought  no  less  highly  of  the  young  lady  who  subsequently 
became  his  wife. 

"  How  all  the  brightest  hopes  of  Mr.  Roby  have  been 
fully  realized,  in  relation  to  Moffat  as  a  devoted  missionary 
and  a  truly  Christian  man,  the  Biography  makes  plain, 
showing  that  his  course  has  been  'as  a  shining  light,  shining 
brighter  and  brighter  unto  the  perfect  day.' 

"When  Dr.  Moffat  returned  to  this  country  in  1870,  as 
his  old  friend  Dr.  Tidman  had  passed  away,  it  was  my 
official  duty  and  personal  privilege  to  pay  him  an  early 
visit,  to  see  what  might  be  required  to  be  done  for  the 
furtherance  of  the  comfort  of  himself  and  his  loved  ones ; 
and  I  was  then  more  than  surprised  at  the  Christian  sim- 
plicity and  self-negation  both  of  himself  and  his  devoted 
wife,  for  they  seemed  more  than  content  with  anything  and 
everything  that  was  arranged  for  them  ;  and  truly  it  was 
evident  that  in  Mrs.  Moffat  he  had  been  singularly  blessed 
with  a  noble  and  devoted  wife,  who  was  indeed  a  missionary 
second  ojily  to  Imnself! 

"  I  shall  never  forget  what  took  place  in  my  official 
room  at  the  Mission  House  soon  after  their  return  from 
Africa.  While  talking  over  their  past  labours,  Mrs.  M., 
looking  fondly  at  her  husband  first,  turned  to  me  and  said, 
'  Robert  can  never  say  that  /  hindered  him  in  his  work  ! ' 
'  No,  indeed,'  replied  Dr.  M.  ;  '  but  I  can  tell  you  she  has 
often  sent  me  away  from  house  and  home  for  months 
together  for  evangelizing  purposes,  and  in  my  absence 
has  managed  the  station  as  well  or  better  than  I  could 
have  done  it  myself! ' 

"  No  wonder  that  when  I  went  to  see  him  the  morning 
after  this  dear  one  was  called  home,  I  should  find  him  heart- 
sore  and  bowed  down  with  sorrow  by  his  somewhat  sudden 
bereavement.  He  told  me  that  on  the  previous  evening, 
finding  there  seemed  to  be  an  unusual  silence,  he  went  to 


458  REFUSES  TO  TAKE  ARREARS  OF  SALARY. 

the  bedside,  and,  looking  at  the  irivalid,  in  alarm  he  ex- 
claimed, *  Mary,  dear,  only  one  word  ! '  But  silence  was 
the  only  response,  for  the  Master  had  come  and  called  her. 
'  And  thus,'  said  Moffat,  with  touching  pathos,  '  she  left 
me,  after  labouring  lovingly  together  for  fifty  years,  without 
saying  good-bye ! '  But  now  he  has  joined  her,  and 
together  they  continue  the  higher  service  in  the  Master's 
more  immediate  presence,  where  work  and  weariness  are 
no  longer  united, 

"  I  have  often  been  profoundly  impressed  with  Dr. 
Moffat's  evident  natural  boldness  in  relation  to  the  cause 
and  kingdom  of  his  Divine  Lord.  He  was  a  man  who, 
having  planted  himself  on  a  principle,  would  stay  there  till 
he  died  !  When  receiving  civic  honour  at  the  Mansion 
House,  London,  on  being  introduced  as  one  familiar  with  the 
African  diamond  fields,  he  responded,  in  the  midst  of  the 
assembled  traders,  merchants,  and  civic  dignitaries,  that  he 
could  tell  them  little  about  the  diamond  fields,  or  the 
diamonds  there,  for  he  had  gone  to  Africa  to  seek  jewels 
of  a  very  different  character,  namely  the  natives,  in  order 
that  they  might  be  made  as  gems  to  adorn  the  Saviour's 
crown  ! 

"  I  have  also  had  many  opportunities  of  marking  his 
complete  disinterestedness  in  the  service  of  Christ.  There 
was  nothing  sordid  about  him  ;  he  had  no  desire  to  accu- 
mulate money,  and  ever  showed  a  scrupulous  anxiety  to 
take  for  himself  as  little  as  possible  out  of  the  funds  of  the 
Society.  And  when  I  found  him  resolutely  refusing  any 
longer  to  draw  his  small  stipend,  I  reminded  him  that  our 
books  showed  a  certain  amount  of  arrears  now  due  to  him. 
He  then  in  the  strongest  manner  assured  me  that  he  would 
not  receive  a  penny  of  it !  and  could  not  be  satisfied  until 
he  saw  that  the  books  were  cleared  of  this  amount ! 

"  I  might  adduce  many  other  personal  recollections  of 
this  now  glorified  saint,  but  the  foregoing  must  suffice  for 
the  purpose.  I  will  only  add  that  I  know  well  how  truly 
the  Directors  loved  him,  and  would  have  done  anything  in 
their  power  to  add  to  his  comfort.  The  Society  was  greatly 
honoured  by  his  connection  with  it,  and  to  it  he  remained 


THE  END. 


459 


'faithful  unto  death;'  so  that  his  memory  will  ever  be 
cherished  as  a  precious  ointment  by  the  whole  missionary 
circle,  standing,  as  he  does,  as  an  exam[)lc  and  an  inspira- 
tion to  the  young  men  of  our  homes  and  colleges,  which 
may  well  lead  many  of  them  to  an  entire  and  blessed  con- 
secration to  the  work  of  the  Lord  ! 

"  For  myself  I  will  only  say  that  I  revered  him  as  an 
honoured  father,  and  felt  it  to  be  a  precious  privilege  to 
read  the  burial  service  at  his  grave,  where  we  left  his 
mortal  remains,  gladdened  by  the  thought  that  though  the 
body  was  thus  returned  to  the  earth,  the  spirit  had  gone  to 
the  God  who  gave  it,  to  be  re-united  with  the  loved  ones 
gone  before,  that  together  they  might  glorify  Him  to  whom 
they  consecrated  their  lives,  realizing  that  He  had  loved 
them,  and  given  Himself  for  them. — Believe  me,  dear  Mr. 
Moffat,  yours  truly, 

"  Robert  Robinson, 

"  La/e  Home  Secretary  of  the  L.A/.S.'' 


New  York  A  i'  irmstronjS  &  S 


INDEX. 


Address   from    Congregational    Ministers    on    eightieth 

birthday           ......  399 

Aborigines'  Protection  Society             .             .             .  452 

Afrikaner,  an  outlaw  from  the  Colony        .  .  .36 

„          attachment  to  Moffat             ...  38 

„         good  effects  of  his  visit  to  the  Cape        ,             .  46 

„         his  death     .             .             .            .             .  105 

„          meets  Moffat  at  Kuruman  with  his  property       .  86 

„          parts  with  his  missionary      ...  46 

„          receives  gifts  from  the  Government        .             .  46 
Agnes    Livingstone,  Moffat's   granddaughter,  married    to 

Alexander  Bruce  of  Edinburgh           .             .             .  398 

Albrecht,  Afrikaner's  first  teacher         .             .             .  36 

Alexander,  Dr.  W.  L.,  of  Edinburgh,  valedictory  address  237 
Alexander,  Moffat's  brother,  a  soldier  in  India       .             31,  131 

„               „             „         heard  of  again      .             .  45 

AUon,  Dr.               ......  455 

Ambassadors  from  Mosilikatse            .             .            .  159 

American  Missionaries  arrive  at  Griqua  Town        ,            .  195 

„                  „             „      at  Kuruman       .             .  205 
„                  „           go  to  Mosega          .             ,            .210 

„                  „           leave  Mosega  for  Natal             .  216 

Anderson,  his  interest  in  his  old  Mission                .             .  169 

„           „    labours  among  the  Griquas  .                 .  93 


462  INDEX. 


PAGE 


Anderson,  interference  of  the  Government  with     ,             .  93 

„          visited  by  Moffat  at  Pacaltsdorp     .             .  169 

Andre,  Madame,  Moffat's  visit  to  .             .             .             .  403 

Anniversaries  in  Manchester  in  1816  ...  24 
Anniversary  sermon  before  the  Directors  of  the  London 

Missionary  Society           ....  228 

Ann  Moffat  journeys  to  Mabotsa   ....  248 

„         „       her  adventure  with  a  lion              ,             ,  249 

„      Moffat's  second  daughter     .               ...  107 

A nti- Swearing  League  .  .  .  .  .188 

Apprenticeship  of  Robert  Moffat  at  Parkhill             .             ,  4 

Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  Moffat  dines  with  .             .  401 

„           Tait  entertains  Moffat              .             .             ,  445 

„              .,    speech  by     ...             .  455 

Arend,  an  escaped  slave,  helps  to  defend  the  station          .  147 

Arnot  and  Coillard      .....  367 

„     of  Glasgow  on  the  Zambezi               .             .             .  333 

Arrival  at  the  Cape  and  at  Algoa  Bay  in  1843             •  239 

„  ,,         in  1817  .  .  .  ,28 

„      in  England  in  1839       ....  222 

Arundel,  Dr.,  Foreign   Secretary  of  London   Missionary 

Society            ......  238 

Ashton,  Rev.  W.,  his  sympathy  in  sorrow        .             ,  355 

„             „           loses  his  wife     ....  331 

„             ,,           returns  to  Kuruman            .             .  353 

,,             „           takes  charge  of  school    .             ,             .  247 

„             „           transferred  to  Griqua  Mission         .  331 

„             „                    „             Lekatlong            .             .  356 

„             „          translates  "  Line  upon  Line "          .  269 

Ashton-under-Lyne,  Mary  Moffat's  connection  with             .  50 

Assembly's  Catechism              .            .            .            ,  211 

Bachelor  housekeeping  in  Namaqualand              •            .  42 

Baggage  in  danger       .....  242 

Bailie,  Rev.  Mr.,  stationed  at  Kuruman    .             ,            .  165 

Bakwena  in  a  dilemma             ....  276 


INDEX. 


463 


Bakwena  Mission  interrupted         .  . 

„         visited  by  Moffat     .  .  , 

I]all  in  honour  of  the  Prince  of  Wales 

Bamangwato,  a  tribe  north  of  the  Bakwena    . 
„  Political  changes  among 

Bangwaketsi  of  Makaba  scattered  and  re-united 

Bantaskine,  favourite  resort  of  Moffat 

Batlaping  tribe  move  eastward 

„  „      settle  on  the  Hart  River     . 

„  „      talk  of  returning  to  Kuruman  . 

Batlaro  villages  near  Kuruman 

Battle   at   Letakong  improves   the  standing   of 
sionaries 
,,  „  saves  the  Mission 

Beaufort  West  in  its  infancy 

Bechwana,  Moffat's  first  acquaintance  with 

Beck,  Rev.  Mr.,  Mary  Smith  sails  for  Africa  under 

Bennett,  Sir  Risdon,  advice  from 
„  ,,         visit  from 

Bessie,  Moffat's  daughter,  arrives  from  England 
„  „  „  born  on  board  ship 

Bible  Society,  cordial  relations  of  Moffat  with 
„     Society's  meeting 

Big  family  bibles  in  South  Africa 

Binney,  Thomas,  at  farewell  meeting 
,,  „         friendship  with 

Black,  Mr.,  entertains  Moffat  at  Melrose  . 

Bloemfontein  visited  by  Moffat 

Bloom  attacks  Mosilikatse 

Boers,  break  up  the  American  Mission  . 

„      claim  the  authority  of  the  Queen  for  their 
„      collision  with  the  Matebele 
„      demand  Livingstone's  removal  , 

,,       encroai  h  on  Bahurutse  and  Bakhatla 
„       encioat  hinents  on  the  liechwnnas 
„      hem  in  the  London  Mission  stations 


PAGE 

292 

• 

277 

401 

. 

276 

325 

. 

29y 

394 

• 

129 

213 

• 

196 

144 

the  mis- 

119 

. 

115 

71 

• 

44 

r  his  care 

58 

. 

418 

420 

. 

309 

222 

. 

226 

407 

. 

74 

238 

. 

397 

385 

. 

277 

181 

. 

216 

acts 

292 

214 

. 

275 

273 

. 

270 

271 

464  INDEX. 

PAGE 

Boers,  in  collision  with  the  Batlaping              ,             .  328 

„      many  favourable  to  instruction  of  Natives   .  .         33 

„      opinion  of  Moffat's  son  Robert  on         .             .  274 

„      prognostications   of,  about  Moffat's   probable  fate 

with  Afrikaner     .             .             .             .  .32 

„      routed  by  Sir  Harry  Smith        .             .             .  272 

„      successful  attack  on  Mosilikatse's  outposts  .  .       215 

„      supineness  of  Government  about          .             .  270 

Bogue,  Mrs.,  Letter  from,  to  Mary  Smith's  mother  60 

Bogues,  Mary  Smith  stays  at  Gosport  with  the             .  59 

,,                 „           visits  them  from  Cowes          •  .60 

Braithwaite,  Miss,  Letter  to     .             .             .             .  311 

Braithwaites,  of  Kendal      .             .             ,             .  ,411 

Brixton,  Moffat  settles  at         .             .             .             .  387 

Broadbent,  Wesleyan  missionary    .             .             ,  .117 

Brown,  Mrs.,  Death  of            .             ...  361 

„       Rev.  Dr.,  of  Edinburgh      ....       237 

,,       Rev.  John,  arrives  at  Kuruman            .             .  358 

„       Rev.  J.  Baldwin,  his  friendship  with  Moffat  .       387 

„                 „                „      lectures               .             .  406 

„                „               „      visits  Moffat  at  Leigh  .       409 

Brownlee,  John,  friendship  with  Moffat           .             .  241 

„             „       Mr.  Dugmore's  estimate  of           .  .       241 

„             „       met  at  Grahamstown              .             .  171 

Bruce,  Dr.  J.  Collingwood,  of  Newcastle   .            .  .       237 

„                    „                      „          Letter  to     .  313 


Bruce's  "  Roman  Wall  "     . 
Burder,  H.  F.,  at  farewell  meeting       . 
Burnet,  John,  at  farewell  meeting  .  , 

Bushmen,  children  rescued  from  the  grave 
„         depredations  of 


313 
238 
238 
io6' 
83,86 


Caldwell,  first  minister  who  influenced  Moffat           .  3 
Campbell,  John,  of  Kingsland,  deputed  to  visit  South  Africa 

with  Philip               ...  45 

„              „     Dr.  John,  notes  of  farewells           .             .  236 


INDEX. 


465 


Campbell,  John,  his  snuff-box  .... 
„  „     parts  with  the  Moffats 

„  „     proposes  to  visit  Lattakoo       .  , 

„  „     visits  Bahurutse  and  Batlaro 

Cannibalism  in  consequence  of  famine 

Cape  friends,  their  kindness 

Carronshore,  residence  of  Moffat's  parents 

„  Visit  to  ...  . 

Casalis,  Dr.,  of  Paris    ..... 

Changes  in  the  home  circle  .  .  , 

Chapman,  Edward,  rescues  Boer  captives 

„         James,  accompanies  Moffat  to  the  Malebele 

Cheethams  of  Staleybridge      .... 

Chesson,  Mr.  F.  W.,  Letter  from  ,  , 

Children,  felt  absence  of         . 
„       sacrifices  in  parting  with 
„       sent  to  England  . 

Civilization,  its  relation  to  Christianity 

(;!larke,  Hamlet,  an  early  friend  of  Moffat        .  , 

Clayton,  Rev.  George,  comfort  from  his  preaching 

Clouds  over  the  Colonial  Missions  in  1816 

Coillard,  his  colleague,  Jeanmairet 

„       Rev.  F.,  of  the  Basuto  Mission 

„        with  his  wife  and  niece,  on  the  Zambezi 

CoUum,  Rev.  Hugh,  reminiscences  by 

Comforts  and  discomforts  by  the  way         ,  , 

Communion  Service  sent  for  in  faith  . 

Confidence  in  natives,  Moffat's  principle    . 

*  „  „         the  best  policy  , 

Conflict  between  heathenism  and  Christianity 

Consent  of  Mary  Smith's  parents  to  her  going  to  S.  Africa 

Consoling  thoughts  in  old  age 

Constancy  of  old  friends 

Contempt  into  which  missionaries  had  fallen  . 

Correspondence  with  friends  a  great  solace 
„  „     the  home  in  Scotland 

31 


PACK 

88 

.         87 

69 

.  79,  80 

118 

222 

2 

389,  390 

403 
223 

329 
298 
416 

.       452 

288 

168,  264 

262,  263 

372,  373 

17 

283 

69 

333 

409 

333 
441 

73 
155 
194 
192 
252 

51 
266 

224 
70 

103 
43 


53: 


9h 


466.  INDEX. 


PAGE 


Counsels  of  Moffat's  father  on  his  conversion  ,  .                14 

Courtesy  of  Landdrost        .             .             .  •             '75 

Cruelty  of  the  Batlaping  to  the  vanquished      .  .              114 

Cutting  reed  for  thatch       .             ,             .  .             .138 

Dark  prospects           .....  290 

Darkness  of  midnight  in  the  Bechwana  Mission  .             .       152 

Death  of  Jean  Gardiner,  Moffat's  aunt             .  .              358 

„       Mary  Moffat's  father      .               .  .             .295 

„       Moffat's  brother  Richard       .             .  .358 

„            „        father     .             .             .  .             .258 

„            „        grandson  in  East  Africa      .  .              395 

Degree  conferred  by  Edinburgh  University  .             .       384 

Departure  for  Namaqualand  in  1817    .             ,  .                31 

Deputation  labours            .             .             .  .             .381 

Detention  by  rivers     .             .             .             ,  .               312 

Dickson,  Wm.,  of  Edinburgh,  Guest  of      .  .             .       405 

„                        „            Letter  from       .  .                 6 

„                         „                  »     to     .  .             .       419 

Directors  at  first  decline  Moffat's  services        .  .                19 

„        first  interview  with           .             .  .             .25 

„        their  considerateness             .             .  .               291 

Disappointment  in  converts            .             .  .           211,  252 

Discomforts  of  life  in  a  native  encampment    .  .              141 

Disorganization  of  the  Bechwana  Mission  ini8i9  .       loi 

Disposition  of  native  chiefs     .             .             .  .              317 

Domestic  arrangements  in  South  Africa     .  •                89,  90 

Donibristle,  Moffat  works  there  for  a  year     .  .                  5 

Drought  and  the  destruction  of  forests       .  .             •369 

Drowning,  Moffat  saves  a  man  from    ...  6 

Dukinfield,  home  of  Mary  Smith                .  .             .49 

„           Moffat  visits  in  later  years              ,  .    382,  416 

Ebner  leaves  Namaqualand           .             .  *             ,40 

.„      sent  to  take  up  the  work  with  Afrikaner  .               36 


INDEX. 


467 


Edwards,  Roger,  at  Mabotsa 

„  „      detained  some  years  in  the  Colony  . 

„  „      helps  Moffat  with  printing  in  Cape  Town 

,,  „      meets  Mofifat  at  Port  Elizabeth    . 

„  ,,      Moffat's  colleague  at  Kuruman 

„  „      removes  to  the  Bakhatla  . 

„         Samuel,  Moffat's  travelling  companion 
Eisdell,  The  Misses,  first  acquaintance  with  Moffats 
Elizabeth,  daughter,  born  1830 

„  ,,         died  1832 

Elizabeth  Lees,  daughter,  born  1839    . 
Elizabeth,  Port,  difficulties  of  embarkation 

„  „      Mary  Moffat  leaves  for  Grahamstown 

Emperor  of  Brazil,  one  of  Moffat's  hearers  at  Paris 
End,  The  ...... 

Enmity  or  friendliness  of  Boers  to  missionaries 
Evening  bivouac  ..... 

Extempore  raft      ..... 


120 
166 

213 

307 
227 
T70 

222 
208 
209 
403 

459 
169 

334 
206 


Fairfield,  Moravian  School    ....  49 

Faithful  friends  at  the  Cape  ....       365 

False  charges  against  missionaries         .  ,  .  273 

Farewell  to  his  family         .  .  .  .  .23 

Farrar,  Canon,  Speech  by  .  .  .  .  455 

Faure,  Rev.  A.,  communicates  consent  of  Government  to 

the  Moffats  settling  in  the  Interior  .  .  87 

Fever  in  the  Matebele  country  ....  345 
First  sight  of  a  steam-vessel      .  .  .  .  223 

Fletcher,  Alexander,  at  farewell  meeting    .  .  .238 

Forty  miles'  ride,  and  then  a  sermon    .  .  .  201 

Foulger,  John,  at  farewell  meeting  .  .  .       238 

Eraser,  Alexander,  places  his  house  at  the  disposal  of 

the  Moffats     ......       377 

Eraser,  Dr.,  Moffat's  medical  attendant  at  Leigh  .  423 

Fredoux,  his  untimely  death     .  .  359,  360 

„  „    widow  and  children   ....       363 


468  INDEX. 


PAGE 


Fredoux  turned  back  by  Boers            .            .            .  278 

Free  State  and  the  Batlaping          .            .            .  .329 

French  missionaries  abandon  Basuto  Mission              ,  175 

„             „             commence  work  among  Bahurutse  1 73 

„             „             estabUsh  a  station  at  Motito    .  .       176 

„             „             turn  their  attention  to  the  Basuto  176 

Frere,  Sir  Bartle,  Day  spent  with  .             .             .  .402 

„  •    „       presented    a    congratulatory      Address       452 

Funeral,  account  in  the  Z>ai'fy  News    .             .             .  427 

„        expenses   defrayed   by   the   London    Missionary 

Society  .             .            .             .             .  431 

Game  in  its  native  haunts  .             .  "         .             .  .       256 
Gardiner,  family  name  of  Moffat's  mother        .             ,  i 
Geology  of  Griqualand  West  and  of  Bechwanaland  .       370 
Gift  of  one  thousand  pounds,  promoted  by  Miss  Peek  377 
Gladstone,  Moffat  meets  Mr.,  at  breakfast .             .  401,  406 
God,  Notions  of  the  natives  about        ...  84 
Goulty,  Mrs.,  Letter  to       .             .             .             .  .       399 
„       Rev.  J.  N.,  Moffat's  friendship  with    .             .  228,  399 
Government  House  contributes  to  church  building  .       172 
„             lends  press  and  type        .             .             .  166 
„             refuses  to  allow  missionaries  to  cross  frontier  28,  77 
„                 „           „         Moffat  to  settle  in  Bechwana- 
land ...  86 
Grahamstown,  Moffats  meet  Scottish  brethren  there  .       169 
Gravesend,  Embarkation  at,  in  1842    .             .             .  238 
Gray,  Mary,  Mary  Smith's  mother              .             .  .       295 
Great  George  Street  Chapel,  Meeting  in           .             .  450 
Great-grandchild,  Baptism  of         .             .             .  .407 
Greaves,  Mrs.,  Letter  to            .             .             .             .  56 
Grey,  Rev.  Henry,  of  Edinburgh   ....       237 
Grey,  Sir  George,  Intervention  of         .             .             .  330,  332 
Grievous  disorders  in  South  African  Missions  in  1816  .         62 
Griqua  Mission,  its  reorganization  by  Moffat  and  Helm  94 
„      Town  attacked  by  marauders          .             .  .143 


INDEX.  469 


PACE. 


Griqua  Town,  flight  to  .  .  ,  ,  115 

,,  „      halting  place  by  the  way      .  ,  .72 

„  „      its  mixed  population      ...  93 

„  „      Moffat's  return  to     .  ,  .  .80 

„  „      retreat  of  Kuruman  missionaries  to     125,  142,  143 

Groping  in  the  wilderness        .  .  .  .  301 

Grosvenor  Street  Chapel,  Manchester  :  its  missionary  zeal       179 

Guest,  Rev.  William,  reminiscences  .  .  .       440 

Hamilton,  Robert,  his  character      ...  97 

„  ,,  „    death       ....       288 

„  „  „   house  burnt  .  .  .  125 

,,  „  takes  up  his  abode  with  the  Moffats          171 

Hampstead  Church,  Moffat  lays  foundation-stone        .  417 

Hanoverian  missionaries  at  Sechele's         .  .  .322 

Hard  bed         ......  201 

Hard  day's  work    ...,,.       203 
Harrison,  Rev.  Joshua,  address  at  funeral       ,  ,  429 

Harvard,  Wesleyan  missionary      ,  ,  ,  .45 

Heavy  waggons  crossing  desert  ...  334 

Helm,  missionary  at  Griqua  Town  ,  ,  'PS 

Helmore  at  Lekatlong  .  .  ,  ,  251 

„         dies  at  Linyanti  .  •  .  ,  .       333 

„         goes  to  the  Makololo  .  .  '327,  332 

Henderson,  Ebenezer         .  .  .  .  .238 

Herschell,  Rev.  D.,  his  ministry  attended  by  Mary  Moffat       377 
Hodgson,  Wesleyan  missionary      ,  .  .  ,117 

Hospitality  of  the  Dutch  ....  73 

Hottentots  "dogs"  .  .  .  ,  '33 

„        return  to  the  Colony  dispirited       .  .      133,  138 

Hughes,  Edward,  assists  Moffats  to  cross  Orange  River  269 

„        Rev.  J.,  joins  Bechwana  Mission  ,  ,       119 

„  „         Moffats  meet  at  Backhouse  .  •  365 

„  „         transferred  to  Griqua  Town         •  •       131 

Huguenots,  Descendants  of     .  .  .  •  74 

Hume,  David,  a  trader      .  .  .  .  •       i93 


470 


INDEX. 


Hume,  David,  helps  Mary  Moffat  to  cross  Orange  River 

„  „  „      to  build  the  church 

Hungry  preacher 
Hymns,  Robert  Moffat's  love  of    . 


Impembezi  River  . 

Imperfect  postal  communication  . 

Improvement  of  Bechwanas  in  honesty 
Injustice  of  the  Government  to  natives 
Insufficiency  of  missionary  stipends 
Interruptions  to  translation      .  . 

Inyati,  headquarters  of  Mosilikatse 
Isaiah  printed  .  .  • 

Isolation  policy  of  the  Matebele    . 

James  Moffat  dies  at  sea 

„  „        with  his  father  . 

James  Smith,  Mary  Moffat's  father 
James,  Mr.  W.  H.,  M.P., 
Jane  Gardiner,  daughter,  born  at  Flixton 
Jeanmairet,  colleague  of  Coillard 
Jersey  and  Guernsey,  Visit  to 
Jones,  Rev.  Edward     .  .  . 

Journey  from  Namaqualand  to  Bechwanaland 

„  „    the  Cape 

„       of  exploration  northward  in  Namaqualand 

„       to  the  coast  in  1830    . 

„       with  Mosilikatse    . 

,,         „     the  deputation  eastward  . 
Jubilee  Singers,  Appreciation  of     . 

Karroo,  a  waste  land        .  , 

Karse,  Jan,  Pacific  efforts  of  .  • 

„        settles  at  Kuruman     . 
Kat  River  Rebellion    . 


.     2 


PAGE 
206 

202 
421 

339 

62,  287 

143 
316 

136 
314 
341 
265 

°5,  345 

222 
220 

453 
228 

333 
407 
407 

39 

328 

35 

165 

305 

65,66 

401 

74 

147 
144 
284 


INDEX, 


47^ 


Kaye,  Mr.  and  Mrs. 

Ketshwayo,  Interview  with      .  .  . 

Kidstons,  friends  in  Glasgow 

„         visit  to,  at  Portencross 
Kitchingman,  Moffat's  colleague  . 

,,  son  of  Moffat's  colleague 

Knight,    Rev.    T.,  brings    Moffat's    brother-in-law   to  his 

knowledge  ..... 

Kolong  River         .... 
Kowie  River,  Visit  to  . 
Kuruman  menaced  by  Boers 

„  mixed  population    . 

„  once  more  the  northernmost  station 

„  River,  described 

„  „        source  of  .  , 


"  Labours  and  Scenes  "  published  in  1842 
Last  moments  .... 

Lattakoo,  explanation  of  the  name  , 

„        first  arrival  of  the  Moffats  at 
Lecture  in  Halle  Herz       .  .  , 

Lees,  Miss,  Letter  to   .  .  .  , 

Lehaise,  former  chief  of  the  Batlaro 
Leigh,  Mr.  and  Mrs.,  their  kindness    ,  . 

Leisure  Hour,  Citation  from  . 

Lemue,  at  Motito       .  .  ,  . 

„       French  missionary 
Length  of  time  occupied  in  journeys    .  , 

Levys,  neighbours  at  Kuruman 
Lewis,  farewell  meeting  .  .  , 

„      of  Islington,  his  kindness  to  Mary  Smith 
Lightning,  Stroke  of    . 
Lichubaruba,  Sechele's  stronghold 
Livingstone  appointed  to  Bechwana  Mission  . 

„  at  Loanda 

„     „  Quillimane 


PAOE 

97 
415 
404 

405 
374,  375 


389 
213 
207 
329 

145 
294 

98 

82 


231 

426 

98 

34 

403 

54 

85 
II 

367 
10,  219 

165 
72 

363 
238 

58 

96 

299 

229 

312 

319 


472 


INDEX. 


PAGE 

Livingstone  attempts  to  communicate  with             ',  ,       305 

„           bitten  by  a  lion     ....  247 

„          goes  north  with  Oswell  and  Murray    ,  .277 

„          hoped  to  have  worked  eastward    .             .  271 

„          maintains  a  missionary  on  his  own  account  .       327 

„          marries  Moffat's  daughter             .             .  248 

„          Mary,  dies      .             .             .            .  .355 

„              „      returns  to  the  Cape             .             .  331 

„          meets  Moffat  at  the  Cape        .             .  '32  7 

„               „      Moffat  on  the  Vaal  River  .             .  243 
„          remains  identified       ....       396 

„           removes  to  Chonwane       .             •             .  248 

„          son  Oswell  married     .             .             .  '396 

„          statue  of,  unveiled            .            .             ,  401 

„          Thomas,  Death  of,  in  Egypt  .             .  .       400 

„           turns  northward    .             ,             .             .  273 

,,           uncertainty  about  him              .             .  .       297 

Love  of  country  life     .....  408,  409 

Loyalty  a  dangerous  virtue  in  South  Africa             .  .       287 

Lunatic  assaults  Moffat            .             .             .             .  356 
'•  Lung-sickness  "  among  cattle      ....       337 


Mabotsa,  missionary  station  ....       247 

Macheng,  his  release  from  captivity     .             .             .  325 

Mackie,  Dr.,  of  Warrington,  reminiscences             .  .       436 

!Mahura,  at  Taung        .....  247 

„        brother  of  Mothibi            .             .             .  .185 

„        prevailed  upon  to  be  at  peace  with  Dr.  Smith  186 

„                        „               let  alone  the  Batlaro    .  .187 

„                       „               restore  stolen  cattle           .  186 

Mahuto,  wife  of  Mothibi  ....       202 

Makaba,  chief  of  Bangwaketsi              .             .            .  107 

„         slain         .             .             .             ,             .  .       128 

„         visited            .             .             .             .             .  120 

Makololo  and  Matebele  tribes       .             .             .  .320 

Makololo  Mission,  Collapse  of             .             .             .  333,  350 


INDEX. 


473 


Makololo  Mission,  start  from  Kuruman 
Malan,  Major,  met  at  Paris     . 
Mamusa,  now  Vryburg,  in  Stellaland 
Manchester,  Visit  to    . 
Mankoroane,  nephew  of  Mothibi  . 
Mannhardt,  Mrs.,  Moffat's  granddaughter 
Mantatee,  First  reports  of. 

„         the  first  is  shot        . 
Marauders  again  threaten  the  station 

„  from  the  west         .  .  ,  122, 

„  headed  by  Blooms 

„  menace  Kuruman  . 

„  routed . 

Marelole's  death  .  .  . 

Mary  Moffat  at  Chonwane 

brings  printing  material  from  the  coast 

comforts  herself  in  God 

embarks  her  children  at  Port  Elizabeth 

her  anxieties  about  her  father 

in  solitude  and  danger    . 

meets  her  husband  on  the  Orange  River 

memories  of,  at  Ashton-under-Lyne 

on  the  Interior  Missions 

„     Orange  River 
protests  against  the-repining  of  friends 
starts  for  the  Cape  in  1847 
visits  her  children  at  school 
visits  the  Livingstones  at  Chonwane 
Mary  Moffat's  care  for  her  kindred 

confidence  in  her  native  escort 

early  desire  for  missionary  work       . 

first  impressions  of  Kuruman    .  , 

happiness  in  her  work  .  , 

illness  and  death 

journey  to  the  coast 

last  weeks  alone  wiih  her  children 


PAGE 

404 
214 

406 
108 

113 
146,  149 

124,  125 

143 
129 

147 

346 

178 
197 

209 

179 
123 

210 

451 
326 
267 

70 
260 
178 
254 

355 

177 

81 

82 

81 

;7S,  449 
308 
361 


474 


INDEX. 


Mary  Moffat's  legacy  to  her  brother  « 

„  letter  to  her  son 

„  mother  dies  .  . 

„  portraits  of  her  parents 

„  remarks  on  Mr.  Roby's  death 

„  second  visit  to  the  Livingstones 

„  sense  of  duty  to  her  home 

„  severe  illness    . 

„  thoughtfulness  for  others    . 

„  unshaken  faith  , 

„  weak  health 

Matebele  desolate  the  Bechwana  country 
„        invasion  under  Mosilikatse  . 

„       reap  what  they  sowed 
Matebeleland,  Approach  to,  from  Shoshong 
McAll's  Mission,  Visit  to,  in  Paris 
McArthur,  Lord  Mayor,  entertains  Moffat  • 
Measles  at  the  Cape     . 
Mebalwe,  Livingstone's  servant 
Mediation  attempted  with  the  Mantatees 

,,         between  hostile  clans     .  , 

Meetings  at  Port  Elizabeth      .  . 

Melville  visits  Griqua  Town  , 

Melville's  explanation  of  the  trading  question 
Messengers  from  Mosilikatse  .  , 

Meteorological  observations     .  , 

Miles,  Mr.,  visits  Kuruman  .  , 

Military  precautions  of  Dr.  Smith 
Millen  buried  in  the  wilderness      .  , 

„       dies      .... 
„       goes  to  the  Molopo  to  trade 
„       much  respected 

„       walks  from  the  Bamangwato  country 
Mill  Hill  School,  Visit  to 
Mischief-makers  prejudice  the  natives 
Miserable  condition  of  the  heathen     . 


at  Kolobens 


389 
348 
130 

157 
167 

281 
.       380 
96 

•       364 
153 

.  212 

161 
109 
2l3 

.       337 

403 
411,  447 
221 
247 
"3 
41 

375 
72 

135 

190 

369 
.  144 
189 
182 
181 
138,  139 

183 
180 
402 

.   343 

126,  164 


INDEX.  ^75 


TA'.K 


Missionaries  as  forerunners  of  Boers          .             .  .340 

„           Superannuated,  and  widows         .             .  137 

Missionary  Museum  in  London      .             .             .  .26 

Mixed  character  of  early  Griqua  Church          .             .  95 

Moffat,  a  captain  of  industry  ....       369 

„      accompanies  South  African  Expedition             .  185 

„      and  Melville  save  the  wounded,  the  women,  and 

the  children            .             .             .             .  114,  115 

„        „    Philip  on  superintendency       .            .  .64 

„      an  enthusiast    .....  433 
„      a  Nonconformist     .....       444 

„      arrives  at  Namaqualand             ...  34 

„      as  a  gardener  in  later  life    .             .             .  •       37i 

„      at  the  Mansion  House  ....  454 
„      comforts  himself  tliat  he  is  preparing  the  way  for 

others  .....       289 

„      complains  of  our  climate          .             .             .  449 

„      condoles  with  his  widowed  mother               .  .       259 

„      declines  a  higher  situation         ...  20 

„      describes  his  way  of  translating       .             .  .289 

„      escapes  from  death       .             .             .             .  114 
„      escorts  Mosilikatse's  messengers  home        .       .     .       159 

„     explains  to  Mosilikatse  the  object  of  his  life     .  163 

„      expostulates  with  Mosilikatse  on  his  ravages  .       163 

„      has  to  be  identified  by  the  Matebele    .            .  3^3 

„      his  hut  at  Vredeburg           .             .             .  •37 

„       „    motive  a  missionary  one     .             .             .  433 

„      holds  service  for  the  English           .             .  .188 

„      hopes  to  make  a  short  visit  only  to  England     .  225 

„      Institute,  Mission  Hall,  Lambeth     .             .  387,  398 

„      isolates  himself  in  order  to  learn  Sechwana      .  371 

„      leads  Mosilikatse's  thoughts  to  the  gospel  .  .19-4 

„      mediates           .             .             .            .            •  ^49 

„      meets  old  friends  at  the  Cape         .            .  .32^ 

„           „     the  Mantatees     .             .             .             .  i^o 

,,      overshadowed  by  greater  explorers               .  •       433 


476 


INDEX. 


Moffat  parts  with  his  family  on  the  Vaal  River             •  199 

„  prints  hymn-book  .....       330 

„  rides  from  Bethelsdorp  to  Cape  Town              .  165,  168 

„         ,,     into  Kaffraria              .             .             •  .241 

„  seeks  the  release  of  Griqua  captives     •            ,  195 

,1                     „                  Bain's  waggons             .  •       ^95 

„  seeks  timber  for  the  church      .             .             .  195 

„  signs  protest  against  Zulu  war         .             ,  '453 

„  starts  for  Matebeleland              .             .             .  321 

„         „     to  visit  Makaba           .             .             .  ,110 

„  survivor  of  most  of  a  second  generation          .  295 

„  The  Brighton  Daily  News  on         .             .  .434 

„  troubled  with  his  head              .             .             .  283 

„  visits  Scottish  soldiers  in  hospital  at  the  Cape  .         31 

„          „    the  Batlaping        •             .             .             .  199,  257 

„  welcomed  the  annexation  of  the  Transvaal  .  ,       433 

„  welcomes  his  bride       ....  68 

„  with  his  children     .....       220 

Moffat's  accident  with  a  mill    ....  253 

„       activity  of  mind  and  body  to  the  last        .  ,422 

„       address  in  Westminster  Abbey            .             .  453 

„  affections  weaned  from  the  world  .            .  .       342 

„  anxiety  to  keep  to  his  work     .             •            •  316 

„  arrival  at  Bethelsdorp  in  1843        •            •  •       240 

„       consideration  for  others           .             •             •  423 

„       craving  for  learning            .             •             .  •  5 

,,       declining  strength       ....  362 

„       father  dissuades  him  from  his  project        .  .         21 

„          „      resigned  to  his  departure  to  South  Africa  22 

„       feelings  towards  the  Dutch      .             .             •  441 

„       first  son  dies          .             .             .             •  .129 

„          „    welcome  back  from  South  Africa             •  223 

„       visit  to  England    .            ,            .            •  ,450 

„       health  declining          ....  295 

„       illness         .....  167,  170 

„       labours  at  Inyati         ....  344 


INDEX, 


477 


PAGE 

Moffat's  last  sermon  at  Kuruman   .             •  ,            ,364 

„       letter  to  Roger  Edwards          .             .  ,              379 

„       longing  to  return  to  Bcchwanaland  .             .402 

„       manifold  labours          .             .             .  .              180 

„       mother,  her  character        ....  4 

„            „          „   parting  charge      .             .  .             7,  8 
„       personal  qualities                ....       443 

„       reasons  for  a  journey  northwards          .  .             296 

,,       refusal  to  take  arrears  of  salary      .  .             .457 

„       remarks  on  the  great  object  of  life     ,  .              181 

„       return  to  Cape  Town        .             .  ,            ,66 

„       speech  on  policy  of  the  Boers              .  .              453 

„       strong  interest  in  the  Interior  Missions  .            351,  352 

„       ties  to  the  Kuruman  home      .             .  .             362 

„       versatility  .             .             .             .  .             .372 

„       views  on  the  Litany     ....  445 

Moffats  go  to  Cape  Town                .             .  .             ,119 

,,       meet  their  daughter  Helen     .             .  .              376 

„        part  with  the  last  Bechwanas  at  Port  Elizabeth       375 

„        reach  home  at  Kuruman                .  .             .244 

„        sail  for  England           .             .             .  .              375 

„        settle  at  Griqua  Town        .            .  .             .72 

„       start  for  the  Cape  in  1838        .             .  ,              221 

„       visit  the  Mission  House     .             .  .             •457 

„        voyage  home  in  the  Norseman             .  .              376 

Mokatle,  chief  of  the  Bahurutse    .             .  .            .160 

Moore,  George,  Visit  to           .             .             ,  .              397 

Moravian  Missionary  Meeting        .             .  .             .401 

Morgan,  minister  at  Somerset  East       .             .  .              171 

Morison,  Dr.  John,  farewell  meeting           .  .             .       238 

Morley,  Samuel,  Last  interview  with     .             .  .             424 

„             „        welcomes  Moffat  to  Leigh  .             .       408 

Morrison,  Dr.  Robert,  on  loss  of  friends           .  .              167 

Mosega,  in  the  Bahurutse  country               .  .             .192 

Mosilikatse  amazed  at  the  waggons      .             .  .               162 

,,           attachment  to  Moffat  .             .  .             •       'h'^2> 


478 


INDEX. 


Mosilikatse  attacked  b}'  the  Grlquas    . 

„  cannot  understand  white  men's  politics 

„  farewell  to  Moffat . 

„  his  gratitude     .... 

,f  „    message  to  the  white  people    . 

„  ill  and  helpless 

„  Moffat's  last  sermon  to       .  • 

„  motives  for  receiving  them 

„  receives  Moffat  a  second  time       . 

„  reluctance  to  have  missionaries  . 

„  retires  before  the  Boers  and  Dingaan 

„  visited  by  Moffat  .  .  . 

Mothibi  and  Mahuto  visit  Kuruman    .  . 

„       unwilling  to  return  to  Kuruman    . 
Miiller's  Orphanage,  Visit  to  . 
Murray  of  Graaff  Reinett,  a  friend  of  missionaries  . 

Native  agriculture,  Improvement  in  .  , 

New  Testament  printed  in  1840 

„  „  revision      .... 

Ngami,  Lake,  visited  by  Livingstone  and  party 

Objection  of  chiefs  to  travellers  passing  them  by 
Obstacles  to  success  among  Bechwanas 

„  „  translation  and  printing  ,  , 

Odd  place  of  worship  at  Beaufort  West  , 

Ol.l-fashioned  hospitality    .... 
Oori  River,  otherwise  the  Zempopo 
Orange  River  .  .  .  ,72,  204, 

,,  „      pont,  now  a  bridge         .  . 

Ormiston,  Moffat  preaches  at         ,  . 

„         Moffat's  birthplace  .  .  . 

Osuell,  William      .... 

„  „       Reminiscences  by        ,  . 

Packages  forwarded  to  Livingstone  • 

Paris,  Visit  to  .... 


PAGE 
172 

347 
163 
164 
303 
347 
324 
193 
321 

215 
162 
246 
144 
402 
'I,  243,374 

.   368 
231 

.   353 
290 

306 

102 

.   281 

75 

261 

161,  162 

206,  268 

243 

.   385 

I 

280 

438 

306 
403 


INDEX. 


479 


Park  Cottage,  Leigb,  Removal  to  , 

Parting  scene  at  Kuruman        .... 

Paul,  the  Namaqua  robber  .  .  . 

„      „    native  teacher  .... 

Peclo  dies  ..... 

„     joyfully  received  on  his  return    . 

„     visits  Cape  Town       .... 
Pelissier,  detained  hostage  by  the  Matebele     . 
Permanent  dwelling-houses 
Perplexities  arising  out  of  Government  opposition 

„  of  natives   about  the  policy  of  the    English 

Government 
Philip  and  Campbell,  missionary  deputation     . 

„      services  rendered  by,  at  the  Cape 
*'  Pilgrim's  Progress  "  (Cunyan's)  printed 
Piper,  Thomas,  at  farewell  meeting  .  , 

Pit^ana,  attacked  by  Mantatees 

„  Barolong  gather  there 

,,         saved  by  Griquas         .... 
Population  of  the  Kuruman  .  .  . 

Portraits  of  Mary  Moffat's  parents 
Portsoy,  Moffats  lived  there  in  1797  . 

Poverty  of  Namaqualand  .... 

Practical    encouragement  given  by  Moffats  to  Matebele 
Mission.  .  .  . 

„       zeal  of  converts    .... 
Presentation  at  Edinburgh        .... 

„  of  five  thousand  pounds 

Press-gang,  Narrow  escape  from 
Price,  Rev.  R.,  goes  to  the  Makololo 

„  „        marries  Bessie  Moffat  .  • 

„  „        starts  for  Zanzibar 

„  „        survivor  of  Makololo  Mission  . 

Printing-press  set  up  at  Kuruman 

Printing  of  the  New  Testament  object  of  the  visit  to 
England  ..... 


PAGE 
408 

127 
119 

139 

77 

278 

45 

63 

269 

238 

121 
121 
121 
212 

157 
I 

38 

353 
156 
236 
388 
10 
327 
351 
399 
350 
171 

221 


480 


INDEX. 


Psalms  printed  with  the  New  Testament  .  .  226 

Public  breakfast  of  welcome  at  Cannon  Street  Hotel  .       376 

Pye-Smith,  Dr.  Harry  .  .  .  .  425 


Queen,  Interview  with 

„        Second  interview  with 
Quiet  Sabbath  in  the  wilderness 


384 
402 
302 


Rainmakers  .  .  .  •  .      i 

Reasons  for  not  accepting  sick-leave 

Relations,  Parting  with  .... 

Religious  conflicts  .  . 

Removal  of  the  station  proposed 

„         to  High  Leigh  in  Cheshire 
Representative   assembly  of  ministers  and   others   at 

Bantaskine      ..... 
Retrospect  of  the  Mission        .... 
Revising  proof-sheets  of  the  Old  Testament 
Richard,  Moffat's  brother  .... 

Robert,  Moffat's  son,  dies 

„  „  goes  into  Government  service    . 

„  „  returns  from  England 

Robinson,  Rev.  R.,  Home  Secretary  of  the  London  Mis 

sionary  Society  .... 

Robson,  Rev.  A.,  settled  in  the  Colony 
Roby,  Rev.  W.       . 

„  „        Interview  with 

„  „        Moffat  first  hears  . 

„  „        perseveres  in  recommending  Moffat     . 

Rogers,  Rev.  J.  G.,  Letter  from 
Roofing  the  church  at  Kuruman  .  . 

Ross,  Rev.  W.,  dies  .... 

„  „       goes  to  Taung 

„  „       reinforcement  to  the  Bechwana  Mission 

Rough  fare        ...... 

Roughing  it  in  the  desert    .... 


01,  139 

291 

229 

13 

117 

7 

412 
284 

384 

258 

354 
261 
261 

456 

120 

457 
18 

17 
20 

450 
3^9 
356 
247 
229 
141 
40 


INDEX, 


481 


Rowland,  James 
Runs  away  to  sea    . 


PAGE 
238 

3 


Salem,  Wesleyan  school  near  Grahamstown  •  165,  16S 

Salt,  Sir  Titus,  Visit  to  ....  386 

Salvation  Army  meeting  .  .  .  .415 

Sarah  Roby  rescued  from  a  living  grave  .  •  1 34 

Scanty  collegiate  opportunities        .  .  .  ,23 

School  at  Falkirk  with  Mr.  Paton         ...  3 

Schoolmates,  Moffat's         .  .  .  .  .391 

Schroeder,  Hanoverian  missionary  at  Sechele's  ,  321 

Scott,  Dr.,  going  to  East  Africa      .  .  •  .413 

Scripture  Lessons  printed        .  .  .  •  211 

„  „       reprinted  by  the  Society  of  Friends  .       231 

Sechele,  abortive  journey  to  Cape  Town  .  .  299 

„         his  mixed  character  ....       300 

„         Moffat  visits  .  .  .  .  319 

„         sends  his  children  to  Kuruman    .  •  ,293 

„         superior  as  a  chief     ....  276 

„         withdrawal  of  Hanoverian  missionaries  from         .       323 

Sekeletu,  chief  of  the  Makololo  .  .  .  319 

Sekhomi,  chief  of  the  Bamangwato  .  .  300,301 

Shashe,  dry  river  of  sand  .  •  •  .  301 

Simeno's  poor  fare  .  .  .  .  .    "  203 

Sixty  lions  in  six  years  .  .  .  •  75 

Slow  progress  of  the  people  in  civilization  .  .  ,283 

Smith,  Dr.  Andrew,  admirable  character  ,  ,  188 

„  „         distrust  of  the  nation .  .  .       191 

„  „         his  expedition       .  .   ■         .  184 

„  „  „    kindness    ....       185 

„  „         satisfactory  intercourse  with  the  natives       194 

„     James,  and  his  wife         ....  49 

„         ,,       birth  and  parentage      .  .  .  .48 

„         ,,       conies  under  Roby's  influence     .  .  295 

„       John,  lost  at  sea      .....       240 

„  „     minister  at  Hulme,  then  missionary  in  India  48,  130 

32 


482 


INDEX. 


PACE 

Smith,  John,  visits  England     ...  226 

„      Mary,  first  meets  Robert  Moffat      .  .  .19 

„         „       happiness  on  the  voyage  out  .  ,  67 

„         ,,       her  brothers  .  .  ,  .  .48 

„         „       letter  to  her  parents  .  .  .  52 

„         „       Moffat  loses  hope  of  ,  .  ,42 

„         „       sorrow  for  her  parents      .  .  .  57 

„         „       writes  to  the  parents  of  her  future  husband       50 
„      of  Dukinfield  accepts  Moffat  as  a  workman  .         19 

Spicers,  Visit  from       .....  417 

Spiritual  awakening  at  Kuruman    ....       154 
Stacey,  E.,  clerk  at  the  Mission  House  .  .  419 

Stanley,  Dean         .  .  .  .  .  '453 

State  of  South  Africa  when  Moffat  landed  there          .  365 

Stellenbosch,  Moffat's  stay  there     .  .  .  .30 

Stoekenstroom  Sir  Andries,  defender  of  Kat  River  Hot- 
tentots ....  287 
„  visits  Griqua  Town  ...  87 
Sturges,  Last  meeting  with  .  .  .  .418 
Subscriptions  for  church  building  raised  in  the  Colony  172 
Sunday,  The  last  .....  420 
Suspicions  of  Mosilikatse  .....  339 
Sykes,  Rev.  W.,  goes  to  the  Matebele  .             .            .        •      327 

Tait,  Archbishop,  Speech  by         .  .  .  '455 

Taylor,  formerly  of  the  London  Missionary  Society      .  76 

"Thick  milk"        ......         91 

Thom,  Rev.  G.,  Moffat's  tour  with        ...  30 

„  „        receives  the  missionaries  in  Cape  Town  28 

Thomas,  Rev.  T.,  goes  to  the  Matebele     .  .  -327 

Thompson,  Rev.  W.,  kindness  to  Sechele       .  .  300 

I'idman,  Dr.  ......       238 

,,         „    his  death  .  .  .  .  .  457 

Times  on  Moffat's  life         .  .  .  .  .431 

Towers,  Rev.  Mr.         .....  449 

„  „  prayer  at  death-bed       .  .  .       425 


INDEX. 


483 


Townley,  Henry 
Trade  route  closed  in  1850 
Trading  of  missionaries 
Translation,  laborious  work  to  Moffat 
Transvaal,  Origin  of    . 

war         . 
Travelling  among  lions 

„  in  South  Africa  described 

Treachery  of  natives  to  each  other 
Troi,  captive  Griqua  maid,  released 
Turner's  Company,  Admission  to 
Tyndall,  i\Iiss,  marriage  to  Mr.  Rolland 

Unwin,  Letter  to  Mrs.       .  . 

,,       Miss,  Visits  from  .  . 


p.vci: 
238 
278 

226,  3(8 
272 
4IG 

25? 
103 

124 

3^5 

406 
180 

233 
4' I 


Valedictory  services  at  Manchester         .             .             .  23S 

„             ,,            United  Presbyterian  Assembly  Hall  411 

„             „         in  London    ....  23S 

Vavasseur,  Henry,  lends  his  house       .            .            .  377 

„  Moffat's  son-in-law        .  ,  .  .421 

Violin,  Moffat  plays,  at  Donibristle     ...  5 

Voyage  from  Greenock  to  Liverpool           ...  9 

Vredeburg,  Af/ikaner's  Kraal  ....  37 


Waggons  drawn  by  warriors 

Waifs  and  strays  of  civilization 

Walworth,  place  of  sojourn  in  London 

War  in  Kaffraria  .... 

Warrington,  Missionary  placard  at  . 

„  visited  in  1871      . 

Waterboer,  appointed  chief  of  the  Griquas 

„  comes  to  the  assistance  of  the  Batlaping 

Watering  cattle  from  wells 
Waugh,  Dr.,  recollections  of  his  sermon 
sends  Moffat  to  Africa 


338 
359 
227 
282 

16 
436 

94 
III 

85 
284 

27 


484  INDEX. 


PAGB 


Wesleyan  Methodists,  Moffat's  early  association  with          ,  12 

„                 „           Opinion  of  Moffat's  father  upon  14 

Wesley's  hymn,  "In  age  and  feebleness  extreme".            .  266 

Westminster  Abbey,  Lecture  on  Missions  in    .             ,  398 

Westward  route  to  avoid  interception  by  Boers      .            .  298 

Williams,  John,  Interest  excited  in  England  by           .  225 

William,  Griqua  captive  among  Matebele  .             .             .  305 

Wilson,  Dr.,  loses  his  wife        .             .             .            ,  216 

„       John,  of  Bantaskine  .  .  .    394,  411,  414 

„       Joshua              .             .             .            ,             .  238 

Wright,  Rev.  P.,  at  Griqua  Town  .  .  .  .139 

„            „         „   Philippolis             ...  245 

"  Wully  Mitchell,"  Moffat's  first  dominie    ...  2 

Yellowlees,  describes  visit  to  Carronshore    .            ,  390 

Vockney,  John                    .....  238 


iQical  Seminary-Speer  J-jtirarv 


1012  01043  3482 


